Chained Love
by Cwinmbrtia
Summary: A nameless slave may find love in the arms of the last man she expected. A typical masterslave story, with a twist! Main: NejiTenten Some SasuSaku, hints of ShikaTem and NaruHinaKiba
1. The Girl With No Name

I'm back, baby! Well here's the promised NejiTen story! I was planning on waiting longer to put it up, but I decided today's the day!

I started writing this story last July, but I only seriously got into it about five months ago. Since then I've been writing chapters like a madwoman. Okay, no I haven't.

Anywho, I said this story was slightly AU. The keyword is _'slightly'_. You see, while the girls in this story are not ninjas, they still live in a world of ninjas. Everyone is pretty much the same, there was just a little turn in everyone's live that turned them into slaves. Whoops!

Well without further ado, here's the story. :3

* * *

Chained Love 

Chapter 1

A chill autumn breeze swept through the great courtyard. The smaller branches of trees swayed, sending a shower of gold and auburn leaves floating to the frosted grass. The few remaining flowers in the garden of the manor shivered and waved at the wind's command.

The courtyard itself was very large and beautiful. There were two long roads for carriages and horses in the front that came from the glossy black gates, and curved around to the sculpted marble steps of the manor. Under all the windows were an assortment of wilting gardens, in which flowers from all over the world grew. That summer they had been blooming in every shape and colour imaginable, now they were desperately clinging to life in the late fall. Though, no matter how bravely they stood, they would soon all have to succumb to winter's freeze. In the very middle of the courtyard was a giant stone fountain, portraying a man and a woman dancing. At the bottom of the stone was inscribed their story, a love story.

However, the apex of the courtyard's beauty was not a decoration at all, yet was so still and lifeless, it could have been mistaken as one.

It was a girl.

She was young, probably in her late teens. She sat elegantly by the fountain, reading the inscription. Her chocolate brown eyes flickered back and forth across the words. The only time she would move was to pick some ice off the water. Her mouth was in neither a smile nor a frown; her face simply held an almost emotionless look. Yet, behind her eyes there was something, only a small, nearly invisible expression of hope, happiness, or grief.

The girl wore only a simple pale pink robe, her feet adorned in equally simple slipper-like shoes of an identical colour. Her dark hair was tied in two buns, with a few loose strands hanging around her face, framing it much like picture. It only seemed appropriate since she was the picture of human beauty.

But 'human' was not a word she would use to describe herself. She certainly didn't feel like she was human. Didn't humans have names, and lives, and rights? She definitely didn't have any of those, though she was sure she had had a name at one point. Now she was just 'girl', or if her master wanted her 'Three' and sometimes 'Pink'. Yes, her master.

The girl was a slave in the manor, one of five girls enslaved in the house. They were numbered and colour-coded; there was green, purple, pink, red and blue. Knowing names was just a bother to her anyway. She didn't care to know her master's name, and it wasn't like there was anyone worth talking to she needed to know the name of. Sometimes she wished she could speak to the others, but they were all kept in separate chambers until the master called one into his to fulfill his 'needs'.

She shivered at the thought. The only real emotion she ever felt now was anger. Sometimes it built up steadily. Other times it exploded in her mind and sent her flying into an awful tantrum in which her room was nearly destroyed on several occasions.

The worst part about her bastard of a 'master' was that he wasn't entirely bad-looking. His hair was dark and silky to the touch. He was pale with a generous amount of muscle, enough to make him strong without looking unattractive. His eyes seemed to stare right through you. It frightened her but it was undeniably striking. However, that didn't sway her feelings towards him at all. He was a filthy pig, and nothing more. He could burn in hell for all she cared.

A few of the girls were more open in their affection for him. Such was obvious by the way they looked at him down the table. 'Pink' blamed their affection on pure physical attraction, there was nothing emotional about it. Or so she hoped.

Though she never spoke to these girls, they sometimes ate meals together in the dining hall. Any slave caught talking, or attempting to communicate with one of the others would be taken away and beaten. 'Pink' had only been beaten for it once, but others like 'Purple' and 'Green' had been taken away more times than she could remember.

Any slave caught talking, or attempting to communicate with one of the others would be taken away and beaten. 'Pink' had only been beaten for it once, but others like 'Purple' and 'Green' had been taken away more times than she could remember. Their master would sit at the head of the table, and the girls would sit along the sides, chained to the chairs they were sitting on. Guards sat between each slave, and talking was absolutely forbidden. The only ones who could talk were the master and any guests he had. She wondered why none of them seem fazed by five young women locked to their seats.

The girl let out a small breath of air as she broke away from her reverie.

Having finished reading the story of the fountain, the girl stood and stretched. She decided to take a walk around the front of the house. The dried grass tickled her bare feet. She grunted at the irritating feeling, but continued to walk. It took about ten long strides for her to reach the gardens. She kneeled gracefully in front of the dying plants, running one small hand up the fragile stem of a lone flower, and gently cupping the remaining petals. They were once full and a beautiful red-orange colour, but were now shriveled and greyish pink lined with brown streaks. She felt the side of her lips began to pull down into a frown. Shaking her head, the girl stood stood, brushing the dirt of her clothes.

She continued wandering through the front yard, occasionally pausing to admire something, or fix anything out of place. She passed by the kitchens on the far right of the manor. The door was open as always to let out smoke and other various air pollutants. She wrinkled her nose from the smell.

When the master or any guests of his weren't around, she was allowed to use the main doors. However when someone other than her or the servants were in the yard, she had to use the kitchen entrance. She hated using it because it was always crowded and hectic in there. Several of the kitchen workers seemingly never stopped working, and would knock her to the ground if need be, and there was always several animals running around. Usually it was something that was supposed to be cooked but got away, or hungry cats and dogs feeding off scraps. It disgusted her, and made her glad that she was usually told to get her own food.

A loud chirping from the other side of the house brought her attention away from the overtaking smells wafting from the kitchen. She searched for the source of the noise. Eventually she spotted a brown bird, its feathers tipped in a bright, beautiful red. The small creature was perched in a tree about halfway between the house and the gate. One of its wings was trapped under a dead branch that had apparently fallen on its nest. Eyes widening at this, the girl rushed over to the poor creature and attempted to reach its high perch.

Unfortunately, she could not reach it by jumping. She took a quick glance around, then latched herself to the truck and began to climb. The girl quickly reached her goal and, using her legs to wrap around a large branch, she grasped the heavy stick and pushed it onto the ground. For a brief moment she wondered if it was okay, but then it stretched its wings, slightly shaking the damaged one, and took off. Something like a smile ghosted across her face. Lucky bird, it was free.

Another sudden sound caught her ear, but this time it wasn't the distressed call of an animal. It was footsteps followed by loud voices. She gasped, looking over the gate. She recognized a few guards, and a man she knew to be her master's main lap dog, but the last man she couldn't place. He was probably a guest of some sort. She suddenly gasped, they were getting close, and she couldn't be the first thing he saw, it would throw of the decor, and she would get it deep trouble. As fast as she dared, the girl climbed back down, cutting her hands and getting dirt on her clothes and skin.

"...So you see, that is why I think this proposition would be excellent for someone of your calibre, sir." One of the men, the 'lapdog', said in a weasel-like drone, as the small group walked through the gate. From what she could tell, he was trying to soften the other man up, likely so that he would buy into whatever plot they were forming. But the mystery man didn't seem to be going for it. He looked like he hated being in this place altogether. She suddenly realized where she was.

_'Shit, I didn't think they were that close!_' the slave thought, panicking. She immediately tore across the yard and hid behind the fountain she had been sitting on about ten minutes ago. She slithered back a little as they passed to make sure there was no chance of them seeing her. They were almost at the steps, when a scrawny kitten edged toward them. One of the muscled guards took notice, and snorted.

"Mangy beast, get outta the way!" He said in a grunt, moving to kick the poor animal. The slave girl's eyes grew wide, shifting into a run before she had time to contemplate the consequences. She ran out in front of the guard, blocking him from the small feline protectively.

"No, don't hurt him!" She cried. The entire procession turned to see what was causing the disruption. The master's lackey pushed passed them towards the slave girl.

"What do you think you're doing? Coming out in the open?" He snapped, pupils narrowing as he shot her a disgusted look.  
"You wench. How dare you shout before an esteemed guest? What filth!" He gestured to her dirtied robe.

"I only-"

"Silence!" He slapped her hard across the face, knocking her to the ground. She felt the blow throb as her head hit the grass, followed by the rest of her body. She struggled to get to her knees.

"I'm sorry... it won't happen again." She forced out, bowing her head. Her chestnut hair fell into her face. He glared.

"It had better not." He sniffed with an air of finality. Her eyes closed, and she felt a heavy kick from a large boot. She let herself fall again.

"What are you doing?" The girl heard a voice call before everything went black.

* * *

When she awoke it was dark, and she was lying on the ground next to the kitchen. Obviously, one of the men had dumped her here after she had been knocked unconscious. The girl moaned, rubbing her aching head. She attempted sitting up, but a wave of dizziness washed over her and she slumped back onto the ground. Her tired eyes darted around, observing her surroundings, given there wasn't much else she could do at the moment.

The horizon held a slight orange tint, indicating that the sun was almost set. The visitor was nowhere to be seen, which made sense, since she had been out for at least three hours. The side door of the kitchens had been shut, which meant the meals must have been finished already. Great, now she would have to salvage something, instead of grabbing something to eat from the snack cupboards she wasn't really supposed to know about.

They closed around five in the evening because someone had a medical condition that wouldn't allow snacks after that time. Shaking her head lightly, she pulled herself up slowly. The girl staggered over to the heavy wooden entrance, pushing at the door with all her might, but failing to open it. She rested her still pounding head against it. Then, she heard someone moving around inside. She couldn't believe her luck.

She knocked as hard as she could until she heard a lock being lifted, and a cracked voice telling her the door would be right open. Suddenly the door swung open, and the girl jumped back. A smiling middle-aged woman beckoned her inside.

"Thank you very much." The girl bowed respectfully, making her way in. She hurried through the cramped rooms, and out into the hall.

She sneaked along the passageway into the main entrance room. It was a very large room. The ceiling seemed unnecessarily high, making her need to tip back on her heels slightly just to see it properly. The walls and floor were a navy blue marble. The roof was pretty much an enormous skylight, except for the borders, which were walnut with gold corners. This gave it the feeling of a giant picture frame, held up by several white pillars that were also marble. There were countless doors on all sides of the room and four grand white marble staircases that stood impressively in the corners.

Just to keep the pattern, the railings were carved from walnut and designed with gold decorations. Even simply standing in this room made you feel like you were wasting considerable amounts of money. However, this room was probably the most impressive in the manor, just to give a good first impression. The only other rooms that were of similar beauty were the dining room, the master's chambers, the guest rooms, and the baths reserved for only those of great importance. Usually this meant wealthy guests and nobles.

Looking around, the girl saw no one in the room, so she rushed over to the staircase that lead to the slave's rooms. Walking through the open doorway, she reached a short hallway that rather resembled a hotel. Two doors were on either side, each had a number between '2' and '5' painted on it in black, each matching the number belonging to the girl the room belonged to. A single guard stood at each entrance to let someone into their room and watch so that the slaves couldn't come out and talk to each other. At the end of the hallway was another door that had a number '1' painted on it. 'One' or 'Red', was apparently the master's favourite. The girl scoffed.

_'Better her than me.' _She thought bitterly.

The girl coughed lightly to let the man watching know she was there. He grunted in annoyance and produced a key with the number three written on it in pink from his pocket. He turned and unlocked the first door on the left, and shoved her roughly inside. She stumbled, but regained her balance as the door slammed behind her.

The girl rolled her chocolate brown eyes and stuck out her tongue at the wood behind her. Someone chuckled and she visibly jumped. Looking around slowly, she saw a man in a gray robe with dark brown hair sitting on her bed. Her breath caught in her throat. That was the man who enforced the rules of the house. She should have remembered he would be here to give her grief about the incident today with the guest.

"How long have you been here?" She asked angrily. Her hate of this man was only slightly less than her hate for the man that enslaved her.

"My, my," he began coolly, "speaking out of turn to someone much higher than you. You should be punished, but out of pure kindness I will answer your question. I've been here for four and a half hours. You should also be punished for making me wait, but I was informed of your situation. All I am here for is to...speak...to you about this whole mess concerning your aggressive behaviour." She said nothing, but her glare intensified.

"I don't blame you for being angry with me. It's not as if I have ever given you reason to like me, neither do I care to. However, you remember what will happen if you try anything, right?"

How could she forget? Once, in the early days after she had first arrived, she had lashed out on a young servant for calling her a whore. She hadn't had time to do any damage before a burly guard came and beat her repeatedly across the back and face with a thin bamboo pole. Fortunately, her master didn't want her with all those marks on her skin, so she was left alone for a week and a half. If she had actually done damage, she was told she would have been whipped, but she couldn't imagine how that could have been worse.

"Yes, I understand." Her voice barely louder than a whisper. The man grinned.

"Good. Now surely you know that you were not supposed to be in the courtyard without someone watching you, even though you couldn't get out anyway." It was true; the gates had an alarm if opened from the inside. Again, she didn't answer him, her eyes locked with his. He waited for a moment to see if she would say anything, then continued.

"Then you somehow managed to get your uniform all dirty, which your master paid good money for. All you have other than that are two kimono, and your sleep clothes. However, both kimonos are very elaborate and expensive, only to be worn in the presence of important guests or when your lord calls for you. And obviously bedclothes are only to be worn while sleeping. None of this clothing is appropriate for walking around the house." He paused for a moment to take a breath and think.

"So, therefore your punishment for this first offence is to be kept in your room at all times. That means no exploring. You are only allowed out to use the washroom – with an escort, of course, or when the master wishes to see you. Also you are not permitted to even do those things until you have washed you robe. Is that clear? "

"Yes..." She answered distantly. Usually someone did all the laundry at once; she rarely had to do it herself. She didn't like to do it. If she had to do something she preferred to sew. Not that she really enjoyed such tedious activities, but after so long without her weapons, being able to hold _anything_ sharp in her hand was a blessing.

"Now the more urgent matter. You knowingly, as a slave, and in such a manner, showed yourself to-"

"That's not true!" She half-yelled, " I only went out because one of the guards was-"

"That's not true!" She half-yelled, "I only went out because one of the guards was-"

"Don't you interrupt me!" He yelled harshly, losing his cool demeanor almost entirely. The girl flinched, falling silent again. It was not wise to argue the matter.

"_As I was saying." _He hissed, giving her a foreboding glare,

"You know perfectly well that you are absolutely forbidden to let a visitor see you until you are called upon. Yet you threw yourself right into plain view, shouting no less! What do you suppose he must think of this house now? Likely hat we runa zoo, the way youbehaved!" He let out a small huff, eyes remaining narrowed on the slave girl.  
"Why did you do it, then? From what I hear you were trying to save some mangy little vermin. That man you practically landed at the feet of was a potential buyer, you know. However, I'm not sure if he is anymore, seeing the way you acted. He might assume all our girls are as disobedient as you." He stopped to let it sink in, and see if she showed any fear or guilt. Her face showed nothing anymore, not even hatred.

_'A buyer, huh?' _The slave had to keep herself from giggling. Not out of amusement, but of defiance. She had sworn to protect one of the girls she lived with here. She was known in the manor as ' Blue' or 'Four'. They didn't meet until they had been sold into slavery, and neither of them felt the need to discuss their pasts.

They soon became friends, and promised to stay together and protect one another. She had once known her friend's name, but since they were brought here, and all these new rules were enforced to keep them from meeting, she had forgotten it. It made her feel terrible. Every so often a name would float by in her mind, but was quickly whisked away, like there was a sudden wind. She was so wrapped up in her loyal thoughts that she almost didn't hear what he said next.

"... so I believe the best thing to do is to let _him _decide on the best punishment. After you make a sincere public apology to him, but only say something if he has already asked you. That is all. Your punishment for dirtying your robes begins tomorrow when you awake. Put your pyjamas on and leave your clothes outside the door. When you are ready to wash them knock on your door and someone will hand them in to you. Good night." He ended in a fake cheery tone. She glared at his retreating form as he made his way to the door, then she glared for a while at the spot where he had just been. Her eyelids began to feel heavy, and she sighed in defeat.

Pulling her dark brown locks out of the buns, and letting them hang loosely down her back, she briefly wondered what she did to deserve this. Not that is mattered. What mattered was that she was here now, and she had to find a way to make things right. Not tonight, though. Tonight all she could do was sleep and hope tomorrow could be better, but with all the punishments she had to deal with, it was doubtful.

The girl lazily pulled the complicated ties holding the robe together apart, allowing it to fall to the floor, also pulling off her underclothes. She was never very comfortable being naked so she hurriedly dressed in a loose-sleeved white shirt, along with matching capris-style pajama pants. She then quickly washed clean her face and hands.

Falling onto her bed sheets, the girl gave a half-hearted yawn and didn't even bother to pull the sheets over body as her dark eyes drifted shut.

* * *

The sun struggled to shine through a miniature window high on the wall of a small bedroom, yet it's irritatingly bright morning rays managed to glare into the sleeping teen's closed eyes. She groaned, turning on her side and curling up into a tight ball, attempting to warm up. She wasn't awake enough to register that there was a blanket under her. The only clear thought that went through her brain was wondering where the night went.

Eventually her clouded mind cleared, and she remembered what she had to do today. The girl groaned for the second time that morning, slowly swinging one leg over the side of her bedding, then the other, and sat up. Lazily she opened one eye, then the other. Through her blurry vision she managed to recognize a tiny cupboard holding her two ceremonial dresses, a mirror, and a low sink. She raised both hands to her face and rubbed her eyes, blinking a few times to completely clear them.

She raised her slightly tanned arms above her head and stretched as far as she could, until it began to hurt, then dropped them back down, allowing the force of the swing to make her fall back. After a moment of extra rest, she rose unsteadily. Her head still hurt from the day before.

The young slave took a few short strides to the door and knocked quietly. After a moment the rusty hinges creaked, and a rough hand appeared in the small crack that the door had opened, holding her soiled clothing. She took them and muttered a 'Thank you' as it was quickly closed again. A bar of freshly scented soap was also tossed in at the last second. She caught it with ease, and padded over to the sink in the corner.

"I guess it could have been worse." The dark-haired girl sighed, "I just hope this 'buyer' is a fair person... yeah right. I haven't seen a 'fair' person in ages, and with my luck, he'll be even worse than the guy who was in here last night." She let out a cold noise that was something like laughter. She said nothing more as she turned the faucet up full blast over her pink uniform, taking the purple-tinted soap and scrubbing madly, occasionally making a strained grunting sound from the effort.

After a few minutes of this, she took a break, letting her arms fall limp to her sides. The girl observed what progress she had made. She hadn't actually done much other than fill the sink with strong smelling bubbles.

"Obviously I need a different approach." Thankfully, only the front of the robe was dirty where she had been pressed against the tree. Starting at the top of the stain, she held it directly under the flowing water, and began a careful wash of just the part under the tap. In less than a minute, she began to notice the dirt lifting. She scrubbed harder, trying to get this over with as quickly as possible. Soon she had about six square inches cleared, then eight, ten, twelve. In record time she had already cleared the shirt part of the pink garment.

The slave girl took a break from her efforts. Her hands were cold and pruned as she wiped them on her nightclothes. She took a few short breaths, shaking her cramped fingers to loosen them. She wondered what time it was outside her room. The brunette sighed, no time to be worrying about that now. With that she dove back into her cleaning, using the same method as before. In half an hour the robe was clean and sweet smelling. She stood on her bed and pulled open the miniscule window. She blindly reached out and hung her clothing from the short concrete ledge to dry.

With nothing left to do, the girl sat on her bed and let herself fall into a trance-like state, simply staring at the wall. Unconsciously she brought a hand up and combed it through her messy locks. After a few minutes her eyes began to ache from the dryness, so she blinked a few times, again looking around and seeing the plain room she had already seen so many times before.

"This sure is boring." she complained to the air without thinking. She realized what she had said and wondered why she had done it. The slave was used to spending hours in her simple chambers, doing nothing but staring. So why was it then that she had found herself suddenly so incredibly bored? Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was slightly anxious to find out what this 'buyer' was like, and what her punishment would be. Obviously she wouldn't enjoy it, and it would probably be something sexual. She didn't get a very good look at the visitor; all she saw was that he had dark hair. Not that looks mattered much to her anyway, if she ever did find someone – which was _extremely_ unlikely, all she really wanted was respect.

However the girl had long since given up her dreams that a kind buyer would come and whisk her away, then marry her, and they would live happily ever after. Things just didn't work that way in real life, she knew that. Still, she wished they would sometimes. She let an exasperated sigh escape from her lips.

A sharp rapping on the door interrupted her thoughts. Before she could give any acknowledgment, the person rudely barged in. It was a large woman with black hair tied in a bun. She wore a long blue maid's uniform, and she carried a small piece of paper the slave knew held orders for her.

"The master wishes to see you in the guest quarters. You can dress yourself." The girl barely had time to nod her head before the maid stormed out, a look of total disgust on her face. As soon as the door was slammed shut, she rolled her eyes. This was going to be about the visitor she had 'offended'. With a grunt she began to read the instructions given to her.

* * *

Okay! First chapter is done! The next chapter may take a while to come out... I dunno. I promise it won't be like last time, though. I give you my solemn oath that there will be a new chapter here in less than a month. So if by October 3rd, 2007 there is no second chapter, I shall... punish myself by... walking though the market square lashing myself with a tuna... or something. 

I was writing this and listening to 'Life is Like a Boat' from Bleach, and I was like "Wow, this is just like her!", then I switched it to 'Happy Boys and Girls' by Aqua and laughed my ass off.

Er... what else...?

Oh yeah. Review please! My last story got 13 reviews in four months. I'm sure you people can do better than that!

Anyone who guesses who the 'Master' is gets a hearty handshake - free of charge.

ONE LAST THING. I start highschool tomorrow!!! I'm so scared! -cries- If anyone has advice drop me a review. Other than that... WISH ME LUCK!

-Cwin


	2. Greeting the Guest

Whoot whoot! I'm back! This is my first time getting a second chapter on a fanfiction, I hope you like it! I mean to put it up a few days ago, but I didn't get around to it due to homework and stuff. Still, I made it by my deadline!

This hasn't been Beta'd by my editor yet, so I may be removing it to have it fixed. Maybe not though, I'm lazy

I'm so thankful to those who reviewed, especially the one's who left LONG reviews! Here's a shout out (and a couple responses) to my chapter one reviewers: **Kaikura (of course), La princesa zorro, Merciless Ruby, writer4ever14, AngeChen, CyclonePheonix, silencer06, Ottpop.**

**sexyinumama - **Tell your brother so random nerd who has no idea who he is says 'happy birthday!'

**Cheerios Freak - **Wow, now I want someone to draw me a fanart of Neji in shining armour! Lol!

**10Join-Fei ( Gets a hearty handshake)- **You got most of them right. Yes I am manga updated I know about SPOILERS and SPOILERS and MORE SPOILERS. Unfortunately, at the time I made this up, Konan and Karin hadn't come in yet. I just chose them by a colour I could make them wear without looking funny, so the list might seem kinda strange. Here's the list:

**Master** – Sasuke

**Buyer** – Neji

**One/Red** – Sakura

**Two/Purple** – Ino

**Three/Pink** – Tenten

**Four/Blue** – Hinata

**Five/Green** – Temari

That's all, Enjoy now!

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Her instructions were simple; wear your greeting kimono, dress quickly, and go to the hallway next to the master's chambers. There were no directions as to how to wear her hair, which meant she could leave it in her normal style.

Each slave had two kimonos. One for presenting themselves, and one for when they were sent to someone's room. The one she wore when she and the other girls met people all at once was supposed to be more extravagant and beautiful, but she preferred the other one. It was too bad that every time she wore it, it would quickly be removed again. It was pure white patterned with falling leaves, and a red obi.

The girl bent down to her low drawer and pulled out her greeting kimono. She shook it a few times to get rid of the dust. It had been months since she had to wear it. The background was a pale pink colour, designed with intricate flower patterns in blue and gold, with the occasional green leaf showing. The obi was a dark navy blue, almost purple.

A lot of people needed help putting on a kimono, but after seven years having to do it, almost always by herself, the slave was used to it. She quickly discarded her night clothes, tossing them to the floor. She put her arms through the sleeves of her yellow-gold underdress, fastening it with a small tie around the middle. Lastly, she pulled on the top layer, folded it accordingly, and tied her obi just under her average sized breasts. It was difficult to move in just these two tight layers, so the girl could only imagine what it would be like to be a princess, and have all those dresses piled on top of you.

With difficulty, she lifted her arms and pulled her hair into the buns she always wore. She had no make-up, but just for good measure, she washed her hands and face again, this time with the lavender soap. By the door were a pair of thin straw sandals. She slid them on, and carefully opened her door.

The guard on duty turned to look at her, and nodded, aware of the summons all the girls had gotten. The slave rushed the slave chambers and into the hallway, as quickly has her tight dress would allow. She turned left once she got out to the balcony overlooking the entrance hall, until she reached the marble staircase.

There were four sets of stairs leading to the second floor but only one leading to the third. There were many rooms up there, but very few people. Half of the third floor were the master's bed chamber, bathrooms, and other various rooms of his that she had never known the use of. The other half were rooms for guests. Separating them was a long carpeted hallway. She began to mount the stairs.

Once she reached the top there was a small balcony and two doors. One was large and decorated beautifully, the other was small and ordinary. She went through the second door. She found herself in a cramped hallway, she turned a corner in it, then went hurriedly walked forward until she reached the door at the end. The third floor was like a maze, it made her happy she didn't have to find her way through it everyday. Just before opening the door she licked her finger and smoothed some wild hair back into place. The girl wrapped her hand around the doorknob, and turned it.

Neji and the rest of the people in the hall jumped slightly as a girl practically burst through the door. She seemed out of breath, but nothing on her was out of place. As soon as she opened the door her head snapped down to the ground, just like the other four girls standing neatly in line. Apparently it was some kind of rule they couldn't look anyone in the face. She hurriedly filled the space right in the middle of the slaves. He recognized her as the brave teenager he'd seen yesterday. He frowned, remembering the beating she had received.

"You're late." The owner of the Uchiha manor said disapprovingly. The girl said nothing. She knew even apologizing would be speaking out of turn. "Well, here is the last slave. As you can see, I have more than I need. I can barely find time for all of them, except of course, my blossom here." She wasn't watching but she was sure he had put his hand on number one's head. She felt two shift on her other side. Three knew she wanted to be the master's favourite.

"An impressive collection, I must say." The mystery man spoke for the first time. Though she couldn't see him, because she was staring so intently at her feet, she knew it was him. He had a deep voice, with an element of something else she couldn't place. She remembered a voice like that right before she had been knocked out the day before. For some reason she wanted to hear it again.

Something concerned her, though. As soon as the guest had started talking, four, on her left side, visibly stiffened.That was odd. The slave was aware of how shy her friend was, but she was never this nervous around guests. Three wondered if her companion knew something she didn't. She sought out four's hand, grabbed it, and squeezed it reassuringly. Then she felt someone's eyes one her. She dropped her friend's hand, not wanting to get in any more trouble. Her master began to speak again.

"Girls, staff, this is our guest - Neji Hyuuga." Blue was practically shaking by that time. Hyuuga... Hyuuga... Where had she heard that before? Something about that name tweaked her brain. If only she could remember... "He'll be here for three months, mostly on business. However, he is likely to be buying a slave.

"Mr. Hyuuga comes from a very rich clan..." The man called Neji cut him off.

"Well I wouldn't just-" Her master sighed angrily.

"Alright. The Hyuuga family is a very prestigious, rich, _and _powerful clan." Oh, so this guy was going to brag about his family? A person who has everything rubbing it in the faces of people who had nothing. Like eating a large cut of meat in front of a starving dog. _That jerk! _She thought angrily. "Two things before I send you back to your quarters. First, number three, I believe you owe our guest apology." She jumped as she was called upon. She had been hoping he would forget about that.

She felt an embarrassed blush creeping across her cheeks, and for once was glad she had to keep her head down. She willed her legs to move forward, and after a few agonizing steps that seemed like ages to her, she was in front of Neji. The brunette did not look up, but waited for him to say something.

Neji was incredibly confused. Was he supposed to say something? He didn't think she had done anything wrong, she had only tried to save a helpless animal. He was surprised though. Many girls he knew, if they were in this situation would be throwing themselves at him feet and crying.He was impressed with the way this girl remained so calm on the outside, but he could sense her fear. Shame she was a slave, if she was higher ranking she would make a good wife. The silence was stretching out, though, and everyone who could was looking at him. He coughed quietly.

"Well, then... About yesterday, I don't think..." He was about to voice his opinion on this unfair treatment, when she cut him off.

"Please forgive my actions. I realize my behaviour was inappropriate and unforgivable. I did not mean to offend you. If you would accept my apology and not think less of this house because of my irrational thinking, I promise I will never shame my master again." The slave had to force out the entire speech, but tried to sound genuinely regretful. Under her bangs she was glaring and rolling her eyes, but no one would be able to tell. The room fell into silence again.

"Yes... very good... I accept your apology." Usually, Neji was very calm and composed, but this was just bizarre. The long-winded asking for forgiveness was entirely pointless, but no one else seemed to think so. The Uchiha grunted.

"Good enough, but you got of lucky this time. Go join the line." The girl did not waste any time going back to her spot, without turning. Their dark-haired master turned back to Neji.

"The last thing I need to talk about is only with our guest and my girls. So the rest can go."

All the servants in the hallway quietly shuffled into the thin hallway leading downstairs. A few maids went through the various doors leading to rooms on the third floor. Only the guards stayed.

"Now," he began again, "I know you said you would not be needing a slave until you are about to leave, but for tonight would you like to... try out the merchandise?" Sasuke gestured to the five teens lined up against the wall. Neji had by now regained his emotionless attitude.

" I don't think that's necessary, Uchiha." He protested.

" Oh, but I insist." All the girls had seen this before. The master didn't really care whether the guest was happy with a woman, but he did it to get on their good side, so every deal would work out. Sometimes he would even dress the person's favourite girl in a sexy outfit bring them into the room where certain papers were being signed. They would create a distraction so the person would agree to anything.

Sasuke gently guided Neji to the end of the hall.

" Number One is very tasty, and makes these amazing noises. However, I just like her techniques so much, I might not be willing to sell her. All in good time. Number Two is just amazing with her mouth." He pointed to each slave as he praised them. " Number Four is so cute when she acts shy, and very eager to please." The brunette grinned at how her master had skipped her. She was so determined to be nasty, that Sasuke had given up trying to 'persuade' clients with her. "Finally Number Five is willing to do anything, and when I say 'anything', I mean _anything._"

" Well, what about the pink one? The one in the middle." Neji asked. The Uchiha frowned.

" Trust me, you don't want her. She doesn't understand her place. That girl is the bane of my life. She'll hurt you if she wants, even though she knows what's coming." He glared at her.

It was true, since the beginning she had never completely submitted to him. She may have been his in every other way, but she didn't let her body go without a fight. At first she had scratched and fought him, until he began to tie her up. So when she couldn't make him stop, she resorted to other ways of getting back at him. She knew her master liked seeing the look of bliss on his toy's face, but she wouldn't let him have that. She thrashed, bit her lip until it bled, or even beat her head against the wall; anything to stop her from feeling pleasure. The master was filling the Hyuuga in on these facts now. That would turn the bastard off for sure.

"...Besides, she's the girl who disrespected you so openly." Sasuke finished, sounding a tad desperate. Apparently this was a really important deal he was trying to make.

" I don't care. I'm in the mood for someone like her tonight. Besides, I'm the pride of my family's martial artists, you think I can't stop a little girl? Who knows, maybe I could turn her around for you" He sounded pretty determined.

The girl was starting to get nervous now. Everyone else was either surprised or skeptical. That slave had made a name for herself in the house as being unpleasurable, and this guy didn't seem to be the romantic type. The master of the manor made one more attempt at changing his guest's mind.

" But she's the girl you're supposed to punish." He persisted

" Then I'll do that too. Kill two birds with one stone, if you will." Neji replied coolly. The Uchiha had nothing more to argue with. The people in the room were shocked. Their master _always _had the upper hand, but this man had beaten him down until he was completely out of ideas. What was with this guy?

A rather perplexed guard stumbled forward with a pair of rope handcuffs, that had a thin line tied between them. He fastened them around the teen's wrists, handing the rope to Neji. He stared down the top of her head for a few moments. She felt his gaze of her, and it was getting annoying. Without thinking, she lifted her head to look at him.

He started as he saw her face properly for the first time. She was alluring to say the least, her skin was entirely without blemishes. However what attracted him most was her eyes. The girls chocolate eyes were deep, looked like they would pull him in if he stared too long. They had an angry glint in them as she glowered at him spitefully. He didn't get to look for very long before the same guard slapped the back of her head, forcing her to look back down. She let out the tiniest yelp.

Neji had only seen her face for a split second, but he wanted to see it again. He knew he couldn't in here, though. So he unsurely pulled the rope, making her follow him. She wished he could just pick someone else. Even if she didn't fight against him, she wasn't very good at pleasing or entertaining. And if her master's deal fell through because of her, there would be hell to pay.

"I'll inform you of any problems, Uchiha!" He called over his shoulder, waving a little.

With that said, the Hyuuga let himself and his partner for the night through the large door he had come in. Instead of heading out to the stairs, he turned left to his rooms. The slave somehow found her voice.

" Where are you taking me?" He was surprised her voice was suddenly so small, and why she had asked such an obvious question.

" To my room, of course." He answered, feeling suddenly very lost.

" I don't mean to be rude, but... you're supposed to take me to my room first." She mumbled. He stopped and turned around, unfortunately she was still facing the ground.

" Why do I need to do that?" Neji questioned. None of these crazy rules made any sense to him.

" So I can change clothes. I have a simpler kimono, that'll be easier for you to pull off. If you're impatient, I can change fast." This seemed pretty ridiculous. And _why _was she being so quiet and demure all of a sudden? What happened to the ferocious woman those eyes had shown him? Was it because of the guards at various doors along the hall? Yes, that had to be it. He sighed.

" No, we're not doing that. I don't care. Let's just go to my room." He pulled the rope tighter to emphasize his point. This made her jerk forward with a small squeak. She said nothing more as the two approached his temporary bedroom. He slid his free hand into the folds of his dark grey robe, grabbing a shining gold-coloured key and calmly opened the door. The slave allowed herself to look up.

She had been in all of the guest rooms before, some quite frequently, but it was a rare treat to come into this room. It was one of the two most lavishly decorated guest rooms, the next being the study; used for making deals, or sitting and discussing something of interest. This room had grey-blue walls and an off-white carpet.

The roof slanted slightly towards the highly varnished door. There was a gigantic window to one side, at the moment covered by a thick curtain. On the far side there was a door leading to a gleaming white bathroom with green marble walls. The first thing you saw when you came into the room was the plushy king-sized bed. It's sheets were a pale sea green. There were thin canopies hung in random directions. The sheets were piled high and nearly half the bed was taken up by a mountain of pillows. There were also paintings and pictures hanging on the walls, and potted plants in every corner. The room was dimly lit by some low covered lights above the bed and doors.

If she had her way, she would jump into the bed and see how far she could sink, then rummage through all the drawers, maybe finding something interesting.

While she was trying to memorize every exquisite detail of the room, she heard a rustling of clothes behind her. She closed her eyes and made herself take deep breaths. _Just suffer through, just suffer... through... _She told her body sternly. The girl heard his voice suddenly behind her.

" Phew, I'm glad that's over, finally I can take off this thing." She had expected his voice to be husky and lust-filled, but instead he sounded tired.

The brunette girl turned her head to see him taking off the heavy grey robe he had been wearing to reveal a white short sleeved shirt and a pair of black pants. She got her first real look at him then. His dark chestnut hair was longer than she had first thought. In fact, she was sure it was much longer than hers. It was tied in a short ponytail right at the end. He had strange eyes, but she had seen them somewhere before. Was it possible that this man was related to her friend? No, if his family was so rich they would have no need to sell one of their daughters. She had been sold simply because her parents couldn't afford her.

The slave turned back around and kneeled on the straw mat facing away from him. Neji looked down at the strange girl and inwardly groaned.

" What are you doing, _now_?" He asked, not sure if he really wanted to know.

" Awaiting my punishment, lordship." He flinched at the extreme formality. He'd had enough of these completely insane rules. He gripped her shoulders, a little more tightly than he had mean to, and turned her to look at him. There were those eyes again, but this time they looked more fearful.

" Why are you doing this? Honestly, the restrictions in this house make no sense! Why do you follow them? Do you _want _me to punish you? What is wrong with you?" Neji shook her a little as he shouted his last questions. That seemed to snap something inside her. Completely disregarding status, she stood at her full height, which still fell more than six inches below him, and yelled back in his face,

" What is wrong with _you_? If I don't take a punishment from you now I'll have it far worse later! Do think I _like _being violated when someone's just 'in the mood for me'?" She mocked his earlier excuse, "Do you think I _want _to be locked up in a tiny room, or not allowed to speak freely to anyone, not even my best friend? Oh yes, it's great fun to get _knocked out _on a regular basis for doing the right thing. And wouldn't you just _love _having everyone think you're a dirty whore?

I don't like following the rules, but I have no choice. If I don't then they can just get rid of me. My life means nothing more to anyone than a plaything! Of course a stuck-up pretty boy like you wouldn't understand because of your _perfect _family-"

She didn't get a change to finish, as the Hyuuga had grabbed her thin wrist painfully and roughly pinned her against the wall.

" You shouldn't say things like that," He growled in a low voice, pulling her wrist backwards a little, making tears come to her eyes. "If I wasn't such a nice person, you could have gotten off really badly." He tugged her hand back a bit more, before loosening his grip enough for her to pull it back into place. Their faces were only a few inches apart. Both were breathing hard from anger. They looked each other directly in the eye, both refusing to back down. After a full minute he sighed heavily, and released her. The girl was confused.

" But, wait... aren't you going to...um.." She blushed a little, looking anywhere but at his face.

" I'm not going to sleep with you tonight, so don't worry about it." He said, annoyed. She looked down.

"Oh, " She muttered, feeling much calmer "Thank you."

He ran a hand through his dark hair, walking over to the bed, and sitting down elegantly. Her tomboy attitude made her want to burst out laughing, as she found herself imagining him crossing his legs and flipping his hair girlishly. Actually, she had recently found out that she had lost the ability to laugh. She found many things amusing but for some reason she couldn't make herself laugh. The brunette girl looked over to see Neji gesturing for her to come sit next to him. After a moment of awkward silence, he began.

" Tell me about yourself." He commanded. She looked at him is disbelief. This guy practically owned her. He could have him way with her at anytime he felt like with no problem, and he wanted to talk? Wow, that was unexpected, but she couldn't say it wasn't a nice change.

" What do you want to know?"

" Anything. How about your name?" The slave quickly looked down at her hands, and her face went red.

" I- I don't know it." She said quietly. The man stared at her. How could someone not know they're own name? It was just one of those things that no one could really take away from you. He didn't question it further, and changed the subject.

" Okay, then, how did you end up in a place like this anyway?" He questioned, hoping he didn't offend her. She didn't seem to mind though, in fact she looked a little relieved. Perhaps she had been waiting to tell her story to someone.

" I grew up in a very poor neighbourhood. I was supposed to be born a boy, so my parents were crushed when I was a girl. They didn't try to hide their disappointment either. Since day one they told me that I should be a strong boy, not a fragile girl. So I worked hard to be as close to the boy they wanted me to be. I guess that's where I got my tomboy attitude, but you couldn't tell with all this pink I have to wear. I wanted to become a ninja, to make my mother and father proud. Also it paid better than both my parents' jobs. " She took a shaky breath.

" But one day when I was... I think eight, A caravan of a very rich lord came through town. He said he was looking of servants, so my parents didn't hesitate to sell me." Neji was shocked, but said nothing, letting her continue.

" The first few years weren't so bad. Cleaning, housework, being a playmate for their children; all things I could do. But then the lord started taking an interest in me, and I was made into a different kind of slave." She wasn't finished yet, but she paused for a while.

" You mean like the kind you are now?" He asked slowly.

" Yes. I have been tainted for life because of it. You see, I was broken an early age." She paused again.

" How old were you?" He asked carefully.

" I was eleven."

The Hyuuga said nothing. He couldn't believe it. What kind of sick perverted bastard would do something like that to someone who had barely even hit puberty yet? The girl took his silence as a bad thing. She covered her face with her hands.

_Oh great! He must think I'm such a whore now, I- _She couldn't even finish her thought as she felt an arm snake around her shoulders pulling her over so that her head rested below his chin.

" I'm sorry." He whispered into the top of her head. He didn't know why he felt so inclined to apologize to her. Sure, she was quite unfortunate, but Neji Hyuuga _never _apologized, especially when it wasn't his fault. And embracing someone was so unlike him. After a short moment he let her go. She decided to start up the conversation again.

" So what are you here about? Your business, I mean." Neji frowned slightly.

" That's not important." He said dryly " However, I would like to hear some more things about you. Can you tell me anything else? Preferably some happy stories."

" Well, I don't have a whole lot of happy stories, but I can tell you some interesting things that have happened to me." He nodded and she flew into a story about her bad habits of exploring.

They talked for hours. Neji never seemed to run out of questions, and she always did her best to answer. She was doing most of the answering, as he didn't like to talk about himself much. It was nice to finally be able to tell someone all the things she was forced to keep to herself for years. Occasionally they would get up and walk around the room while talking.

Eventually they found themselves sitting on the white love seat on the far end of the room together. It was getting very late (Or very early depending on your perspective) and the lamps weren't providing as much light the Hyuuga would have liked. The two were still talking, but his companion's answers were becoming slurred and distant.

" So y'see I wish I... had told him that... that... ch- chocolate... chi... chicken? Wait'a minute... What'd I just say?" She had stopped making sense about half an hour ago. It was sort of funny the way she attempted to say things properly, while her brain was trying to shut itself down for sleep.

" Are you sure you don't want me to take you back to your room?" He asked for the sixth time.

" No! I'm not finished yet. So like I was saying... er... what was I saying?" She asked, looking up at him.

" Chocolate chicken." He answered without thinking.

" What? You're not making any... any sense. Hmmm... I think you should go to bed." He stared at her again. She drew her bare feet up onto the small couch under her, as she slid downwards, leaning her head on his shoulder. He was about to ask her what she was doing when he heard her light snoring. _Heh, asleep as soon as her head hit the 'pillow' _his ego said smugly.

Neji wasn't sure what to do now. He supposed the proper thing to do would be to bring her down to her room and let her sleep out the rest of the night there. However, he didn't even know the way, and he really didn't want to be carrying this gir. Perhaps if he were to wake her up, he could just escort her there. The Hyuuga shook his shoulder roughly.

" Hey wake up. We've got to find you a bed." He hissed. The girl groaned and buried her face in his shoulder. "Now," he added impatiently.

" Ughh. Nooo, later!" She whined. "Find your own bed." The boy frowned. There was just no reasoning with a sleep-deprived girl. He sighed.

" I guess you can take my bed. If you sleep here you'll get neck and back damage" He looked over, but she had already gone back to sleep. He smiled lightly. Shifting so her head fell from his shoulder to his chest. He gently wrapped one arm around, supporting her shoulders, and one under her knees. As he got to his feet, her head fell back, causing her loosened buns to completely fall out, revealing dark, wavy hair, that probably came just past her shoulder blades.

He carried her the few steps to the bed, laying her gown carefully, trying not to wake her. In truth she was still slightly awake. The girl could feel herself moving, but wasn't really aware of what was going on around her. She kept her eyes closed, preferring not to know.

Neji threw many of the silky pillows off, placing a couple under her sleeping head. He couldn't imagine it was comfortable sleeping in that stiff kimono. As quickly as he dared, he undid her obi, sliding the outer layer off. He then undid the tie holding the thin inner layer closed, so it wouldn't press against her stomach painfully. He made sure it was still folded enough to cover her. He wasn't some pervert that would take advantage of a sleeping person.

He then folded her clothes as best he could, since he almost never had to do it himself, and placed them on the nightstand. Finally, he pulled the covers over her, checking everything to make sure she'd be comfortable.

"Mmm... smells good..." He stopped at the sound of her airy voice. He felt his face grow hot as he realized she was talking about the bed he'd been sleeping in. With that last statement, the girl finally let sleep completely take her over, but Neji didn't notice the difference.

Now was the problem of where he could sleep. He didn't dare sleep in the same bed as her, even though it could fit about three pairs of them, and everyone thought they had slept with each other anyway. Still, he didn't feel right doing it. Maybe the couch? No, it was far to small for him. The only place left was the floor. Perhaps it would be best, since he needed to get used to this lifestyle.

The Hyuuga son strode over to the linen cupboard, finding himself a thick quilt to sleep on top of, and a couple sheets to go on top of him. There were plenty of pillows to spare, so he took four. When he had set up his makeshift bed he had to laugh a little at how silly it looked. It could easily fit two people in it, but it looked like a nine-year-olds bed for 'camping out' in the basement.

He wasn't tired yet, so he decided to get rid of his energy by cleaning up the things him and the girl had put out of place during her visit. Secretly, Neji really was a neat freak, but he had people clean it up for him. He didn't care who did the work, as long as things were orderly. He picked up the things littered on the floor, most he didn't even know how they got there. He found a place for nearly everything, but some things were so hopeless he just threw them out.

He took one more look at her sleeping form, before forcing himself to look away, saying he was a closet pervert. Somehow he knew he wasn't going to sleep well tonight while that girl was in the same room. Not so much that he didn't want her, he just didn't think it would be appropriate.

After he had come to the conclusion that he wasn't going to get any sleep that night, he got up and left the room, carefully shutting the door behind him. He then ambled down the hall to the bar, in need of a stiff drink.

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**A****/N: **And that was chapter two! I'm happy if you like it, I know it was kind of boring since a lot of it was description of different rooms, but try to forgive me.Yeah, like I said, this version hasn't been edited by Kai yet, so this is pure me writing. Hopefully not too unbearable!

REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW

So I've been in higschool for a month now. It's...weird, but not entirely unenjoyable. I did an audition today for our school musical: Little Shop of Horrors. My first singing audition! Woo! My dancing audition (the one I really want) is in two weeks! Also, today my highschool broke the world record for world's largest simultanious walk! Go BCI!

Before I go, I'll strike a deal with you guys. I know a lot of people say that if they don't get a certain amount of reviews, they won't update, so I'm doing something like that. Here's the deal:

If I get 0-5 reviews I'll update in three weeks or more. If I get 5-10 reviews I'll update in two to three weeks. If I get more than 10 reviews, I'll update in two weeks or less, depending on how many. So send in reviews! Long reviews!

-Cwin


	3. Communication

Damn! I didn't make it by the 12th! Most probably won't be reading this until tomorrow, but whatever! Where I am it is 12:42 A.M... not sure about where you are. Once again my editor has missed this chapter, but oh well.

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FANFICTION!** Yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of my first posted fanfiction. Please don't read it. It's awful.

Okay, this is getting to long, but I'm recognizing my reviewers anyway! I asked for ten reviews and I got almost twenty! I'm so touched. I even got repeat reviewers! THANK YOU SO MUCH TO: **Gina Ichimaru's girl, Ottpop, Pawz4thought, Princess of Storms, Nara Temari ( I think you're going to **_**like**_** this story), Matahari, 10Join-Fei, B.Q., Cheerios Freak, Sallyluv16 (twice), won't be the Victim, Twilight's Truth, lehcar-light, dreaming.sapphire.**

**Merciless Ruby – **Er, I meant exactly what it said. She was eleven at the time, not seven. I hope that answers your question.

**Kibaku0nendo –** Aww, I'm sorry I made you feel horrible! You should consider avoiding chapter seven when it comes out.

**Tenjichan** – Holy crap, that's a lot of questions! I'll see which I can answer... d) That was nobody. Just some random guy I made up. He's not important, he just works there. e) Yes, take a guess which one. f) I couldn't keep Naruto out of my story! I love him too much! k) Thanks! o) Of course she can kick ass! Girl power! Or something. And, oh yes, there will be romance.

A lot of people have been asking about Hinata. There is no identity change going on there. It will all be explained in a few chapters.

Hang on people, things are going to get confusing!!

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**Chapter 3**

It had been a few weeks since the girl had woken up in Neji's room. She guessed about two or three, since she didn't have a calendar, it was difficult to say. The memory of that night was still fresh in her mind, and haunted her day and night.

When she had first awoken, she didn't even bother to open her eyes or think, she was so comfortable. She couldn't remember being more comfortable in her entire life. She was warm, well-rested, and sunk deeply into the plush bed covers with soft silky sheets on top of her. Then there was that smell, that wonderful musky, yet sweet and spicy smell. It drove her senses crazy, in a calming sort of way. The brunette felt like se could lay her forever, but her half asleep state was quickly fading away as reality flooded back into her mind, immediately followed by her memory of the previous night.

She bolted up as quickly as she could, given that she was covered by her own weight in bed sheets. The slave kicked her legs up a few times, effectively pushing off the covers. She was angry at him, but she was more angry at herself for being so friendly with him. Like he really cared about her. She had learned very quickly that a guy would say absolutely _anything_, to get into your pants. She growled, beating against the bed as hard as she could.

" At least _he's_ not here." She thought out loud " I better get out of this place before he comes back." She hurriedly grabbed her overdress and shoes, not bothering to wonder when she had shed them, walked to the door and opened it.

She had navigated through the halls as fast as she could, then once she was back in a place she was familiar with, started to run to her bedroom.

Now here she was, three weeks later. Since that day she had been avoiding the Hyuuga as best she could. She rarely left her room, and when she did it was usually late at night. Occasionally she would pass him in a hall or in a public room on her way to the bathroom or outside. In those instances, she would quickly look somewhere else and speed up her pace. She wasn't afraid to act like his equal when no one was watching. He usually didn't say anything to her either, but watched her, as if forming some kind of plan, She had even refused an order to go up to his room, knowing he wouldn't get her in trouble for it.

It was getting colder by the day, and soon it really would be full force winter. She sighed, that would mean she couldn't go out as often. At the moment she was sitting cross-legged on her bed, just staring and thinking. With that final thought, she tipped herself backwards. She wanted to sleep. When you're asleep you don't have to worry about what your thinking or doing, because it's not real. However she had been sleeping the days away an awful lot lately, and her body wouldn't let her. Restlessness pulled her to her feet.

The girl observed her room. Obviously she had been staring and thinking for a long time because the sun shining through her tiny window had moved to the other side of the room, onto the door and casting long shadow- wait a minute. The door... the door... Something was out of place here. There shouldn't be a piece of paper under her door.

" A note? For me?" She wondered aloud. Who would write her a note? If her master or Neji had wanted to speak to her, they just had to order her to meet them in person, right? She found the not oddly exciting and yet menacing at the same time. What could possibly be written inside? She stared at it for a while as if it would explode, but it just sat there innocently. She reached out and opened it, as it had been folded over twice.

_Number Three,_

_We may not know each other that well, but I __think __you're the bravest and most willing to __test my experiment __for me. I case you're __wondering, it's number five __talking to you. I __managed to get this note to you, so __I want __you to see if you can get one back to me. __Here's __how I did it..._

_I recently discovered that there are actually __dozens __of copies of the keys to our room. __Apparently the __guards are too dumb to not __lose them. I wasn't able to find where they're__all kept, but if you manage to swipe your key __from the hallway guard, nobody will make a __huge fuss about it. __That may not seem like a big deal, since our __doors open from the inside anyway. It is very __important you get your key though. I have __found a breakthrough way that we can __communicate. (obviously if you got this note.) _

_Anyway, if you look on your clothes cupboard, __just above the storage space, there's a little __drawer, which I'm sure you've noticed before._

Upon instinct, the girl glanced over her shoulder at said drawer. Sure enough, there it was. She _had_ known it was there, but never really paid that much attention to it. Except for once when she was incredibly bored and her curiosity got the better of her. She had attempted to pry it open, but nothing she tried could slide it out. Her eyes turned back to the note.

_That drawer will open with your room key. __Inside there are pens and stationary. Lord __knows why they're in there, but they are. Get __them out and write something to me. Try to __write something inconspicuous, in case you __get caught. If you do, try to act stupid, and __don't let on __that we know about this._

_After you write it watch your door and wait. __I've been observing the guards for a few days,__and __I've found out that they're getting lazier.__When one's shift is over, he doesn't wait for __the next one, and just leaves. The next comes __a few minutes later. It isn't enough time that I __would dare come out and talk to you in person,__but there is plenty of time to slide a note under __someone's door and maybe say 'hi'. __So please, test that out for me. It should be __easy to get your key from those stupid __guards. You'll think of something. And if at __all __possible try to get everyone else's. _

_I'll be expecting your answer by tomorrow._

_- The one and only number Five_

The slave didn't know number five very well, as she had mentioned in the note. All she knew was that she was the only slave older than herself, making her the oldest, and apparently she liked a little danger and drama.

Getting the key wouldn't be that hard. First she needed to get out of the room. She actually did have to use the washroom, so it wasn't as though she would just walk aimlessly, making herself look shifty and stupid. She quietly opened her door, tiptoeing out into the hallway. She walked freely past the guard on duty. He grunted, recognizing she was there. The girl was glad her punishment of not be allowed to wander was over. She turned once out of the hallway, making her way to the washroom close by.

* * *

Neji grinned, as the brunette girl had just walked past him with her head held high. 

He knew she had been avoiding him like the plague since the night they had been together. He wasn't sure what had come over him that night. Maybe he had been sick, or drugged, or he wasn't used to life outside the clan. That didn't matter anymore, though. He didn't care anymore, he had regained his coldness since then. Now he felt like he was in a competition with that girl; a competition he was sure he would win.

Despite everything she did to make as little contact as possible with him, he could still see the blush stained on her cheeks as she passed, still feel her turn and watch his retreating form before returning to her business.

Yes, he could tell this slave felt something for him. However he planned to make this more interesting.

From his dozens of fangirls before her, standing outside his room with signs reading 'Marry Me Neji', shouting catcalls at him, and throwing everything from stones to trashy novels through his window, he knew pretty well how to get someone after him. The good looks were just a bonus. He could easily make this girl fall in love with him. Perhaps just to have something to do around this boring place, since he still had yet to really meet with Uchiha.

_Are you really like that?, _His conscience asked him, _My, my, what a selfish bastard you are... tsk tsk._

The man quickly pushed these thoughts out of his head. He could not be feeling guilt, it would totally ruin his plans. It should be no problem, the female mind was weak and easily manipulated through romantic phrases and actions, or so he thought. All he needed was to have her with him.

Chucking a little, Neji immediately changed his course towards the third floor stairs.

* * *

The girl was back in her room with her key. It had almost been to easy to get it. When she came back, the guard looked nearly asleep. She had walked up to him, commenting on how tired he looked, trying to sound genuinely concerned. When he had groaned and straightened up, preparing to let her into her room, she had hurriedly told him not to worry about it, and offered to let herself in. The guard, being lazy as he was, handed her the tiny pink key without a second thought. She had opened her door and 'forgot' to give the key back. 

Now she was sitting on the floor of her room. Her legs had given out on her because of the relief that she had completed her task without a problem. She crawled over to her dresser, quietly unlocking the small drawer.

Inside were a wide assortment of papers, brushes, and inkwells. They were piled on top of many used cards, and other various documents. She ignored these, and selected a pad of blue paper, designed with shuriken in each corner, a thin brush, and a bottle of navy ink; almost black.

Words formed in her mind, as she slowly recalled how to write them out. The brush moved in short strokes, her lines thick and juvenile.

" Dear... num..ber...five." She whispered aloud. After she had figured out that, all of the symbols and words came flooding back into her mind. She grinned, beginning the rest of her letter with confidence. The slave remembered she had to keep it so it didn't look suspicious.

At last she was satisfied with it. She signed her slave number, along with a drawing of a flower she made up. She held the note at arm's length, reading it through one more time. It was sufficiently shorter than the one she had received, but it would do. She stood, stretched, then knelt to watch the outside through her keyhole.

Luckily, she had a full view of the guard leaning against the wall. She had to strain her neck a little, as her door was set in the same wall. This way could get very painful, very fast, but if she had stood in the hall to watch him, he would never leave. She had been watching him for nearly two hours, when he finally looked at the watch on his thick wrist, finding his shift was over. He quickly peeked out into the main hallway. Seeing no one, he shrugged and trudged out of the slave chambers, turning right without waiting for the next guard.

This was her chance.

Without getting up, she opened her door, tumbling onto the brown patterned carpet. She raised herself, note still clutched in her hand. Quickly padding over to the door labeled '5'. She slipped the note under, and ran back into her room, shutting the door behind her with a snap.

* * *

By the time Neji had reached Sasuke's study, the first part of his plan was fully formed in his mind. To get her affections fully on him, he would help her make a personal discovery. He would get her name, and the names of all her 'friends'. Not only would she have to be grateful to him, it would make referring to her much easier. Yes, this would work out perfectly. 

But Sasuke Uchiha was a sharp man. If he asked for her name outright he would catch on right away. He would have to use a clever trick, and offer him something he wanted. Good thing the Hyuuga was as much of a genius as the slave master was.

Sasuke looked up from a particularly long scroll at a knock from the door. He was glad for the intrusion, he had been meaning to throw out the letter since he started reading it, but couldn't draw his attention away long enough. It was just an overly-exaggerated letter, informing him that a wealthy businessman he had worked with once died, and had left him something small in his will. Perhaps a summer home or something. Of course to get it he would have to sit through a long, dragged out funeral, and the reading. Then he would have to deal with a bunch of grieving seniors and a group of dirty kids who had no idea what was going on. It simply wasn't worth his time.

" Come in." He called, standing and disposing of the scroll in the small waste basket next to his desk. He was massaging his temples, as he heard the door open and shut. He looked up to see his newest guest looking rather agitated and impatient.

" Ah, Hyuuga," there was an undertone of contempt in his voice. " Have you finally come to discuss your family's business proposition with me?"

" I'm afraid not. You see, I find myself rather strained today, and in need of relief. Of course you know what I mean."

" Most assuredly." Sasuke answered politely, though his teeth were gritted.

" Since the girl you sent with me on my second night here did not fufil her duty, which I take responsibility for, it would be very generous of you to offer me another. Perhaps once I have been satisfied on a fuller level, we can begin to discuss my... family's business." The pause went unnoticed by the Uchiha, who jumped at his opportunity. He hadn't wanted Neji in his house to begin with, but there were rumors of some plan with huge potential, and he wanted to be the one to buy in on it.

" Yes, yes. Just choose one and I'll have her sent up to your room." Sasuke was impatient and figety as he sat back down at his desk, grabbing another scroll that threatened to be long and meaningless. After a few minutes of looking over it, he became aware the Hyuuga had not left the room yet. He sighed. "What is it now?"

" I don't mean to be a _bother,_" The long-haired man grinned, showing a few straight white teeth "But I think it would be reasonable to mention, it would be very bad for my family and you if I were to contract something. I can't believe I haven't asked this before, but are all of your girls clean?"

" What do you take me for?" Sasuke growled, before calming himself "Yes, they are all free of disease. We get them checked every three months, and the people who share their company all come from rich families, so they get regular check-ups as I'm sure you're already aware of."

" I'd like to see for myself, though. May I ask for their medical records?" The black-haired slave owner rolled his eyes, but opened a desk drawer, fished through it for a moment, the produced five identical folders. Neji silently took them, bowing his head in thanks, and leaving the room.

As he walked down the hall, the Hyuuga flipped through each folder. They contained one page full of personal information, and a picture. The rest was medical records; all of their immunizations, check-ups, and anything they might have had to go to the doctor for. He looked over each on briefly, before opening the one of the most interest.

"Oh, so that's her name. Heh, bit strange."

* * *

The message sending ability was mutually known by now, as within the next six hours, number three had found two notes slipped under her door. She had hurriedly grabbed them, scanning the words to see if either was from her close friend. To her dismay, on was from Red, and the other from Purple. She decided to read them anyway. 

The first one, from Red was written on pink paper, adorned with pictures of cherries and swirling blossoms. It was mostly a monologue about all the great things she had in her room, and how the master was usually very kind to her. It also contained a lot of questions about what the brunette's life was like, and why she was so disrespectful. The girl wasn't sure how much she liked Red, maybe she was just misinformed.

The second one was a whole lot of complaining about how number two wanted to be the master's favourite. It was full of rude comments towards number one and funny little drawings. She wasn't sure which one was worse. Still, out of compassion, she began to write replies, that wouldn't likely get to their owners until the next day. She answered most of Red's questions, and managed a sort of half apology to Purple, not sure why it was something to be upset about.

When she finished the two letters, she folded them neatly, setting them in her dresser drawer, along with her ink and extra stationary. She washed her brush in the sink, before also returning it to the drawer. Pulling her key out of the folds in her robe, she locked the drawer, then returned the key to it's former spot.

Now that she was done with theses distracting activities, her stomach began to growl. The girl turned and looked out her small window. Judging by the fact that the sun was still partially up, she probably had time to get herself some food from the snack cupboards, and maybe take a little more to create herself a stash for when she couldn't come down. She slipped through her door and down the passageway.

As she walked down the halls she had memorized, she heard footsteps coming in the opposite direction. The young slave paid no attention to them, seeing as servants and the like roamed the building night and day. She continued to ignore the person coming her way until their face came into focus.

She immediately lost her appetite. It was that Neji again. Damn, why wouldn't he stop following her? Not wanting to seem cowardly, she forced herself to keep on her route, though her mind was screaming at her to turn around and go back. She was just about to pass him when a hand shot out and grabbed her small wrist tightly.The girl jerked back to face him.

"Perhaps you have never fully grasped this concept, given your lack of human contact," She told him cheekily, "But most people need all of their body to go somewhere. So if you would, so kindly-"

" Not this time." Neji cut her off. The words she had been planning to say died in her throat when she saw the sharp look in his white eyes. While she stood there, staring, mouth slightly open, he continued. " You can't avoid me forever, little girl. I can tell you're not pleased with me, but life's not fair _is it_." He emphasized the last phrase with hatred. Again, they engaged in an angry sort of staring contest. Neither were big talkers, so they didn't get into arguments as often, but instead expressed their anger through actions and expressions.

" Well then, Mr. Hyuuga," She began tartly " I was about to go find myself some dinner, but I find I've lost the urge." The slave wriggled out of his grasp, turning on her heel. She did her best to ignore him as she walked back the way she came. This wasn't cowardice, it was just avoiding a pointless battle, right?

Neji was shocked at her so suddenly giving up, but did not forget his objective, and by now he was pissed.

"Not so fast, _Tenten._" He called after her. The brunette girl immediately froze.

"What did you call me?" She asked rigidly, without turning around.

"Well it _is _your name isn't it, Tenten?" Now he was mocking her, "Yes it's right here; Tenten, age 18, birthdate, blood type, everything." She swiftly turned back and glared weakly at him.

"Where did you get that?" She snarled, making a grab for the open folder in his hand, which he quickly held up out of her reach. She jumped for it, but found herself too short and out of practice.

"I just asked the man up top." Neji grinned, " I've even got your little friends' information here." He handed her every folder but her own. She flipped through them, disbelieving. Sure enough, she saw the name: _Hinata _printed black and white on the page, along with a photo that looked two or three years younger. Hinata's last name had been smudged so she couldn't read it.

The slave _Tenten._

With her best and only friend _Hinata._

Growing into teenagers together.

The other slaves _Sakura, Ino, _and_ Temari._

Long forgotten memories flooded back into her mind. This was too much for her all at once. Tenten gripped her head, knees giving out. She awaited the cold hard ground crashing against her knees, and the identical jolts of pain shooting through her body. But instead, two arms and a warm body. Neji had caught her before she fell, supporting the weight she couldn't.

"That's a pretty severe reaction for just finding out a few names." He said, amused.

"I'd like to see how _you_ would react." Her answer was slightly muffled as she spoke into his chest with the last of the fight she had left. Neji hoisted the girl up so her head rested on his shoulder, and her feet barely touching the ground.

"It's okay..." He soothed, given that she was shaking.

The first part of his plan had worked out flawlessly. This was going to be easy. Then he felt something out of place: A sort of warm tightness in his chest. Assuming it was the was the girl leaning against him was positioned, he shifted her slightly. She didn't appear to notice. Still, no matter where he moved her, the feeling didn't stop. Suddenly he remembered reading something like this in one of those trashy novels that had landed on his bedroom floor one night.

'Oh no you don't.' Neji told himself firmly.

_What's the matter? _His conscience asked teasingly _Is the heartless Hyuuga son finally feeling something for a girl? Heh, I thought you'd remain lonely for the rest of your life, given you're so cold towards people..._

'You're mixing me up with that Uchiha bastard. And I do _not _feel anything for her. This is just a game I'm playing.' Turning his attention back to the girl in his arms, he shifted her one more time so that he was comfortable.

"Do you want me to take you back to your room?" He questioned. She nodded mutely into his shoulder. "Where is it?" Tenten lifted her head a little.

"Not far, just that down that way and turn right." She spoke softly. She allowed Neji to pull her legs around his waist. She didn't think she could walk right now, her mind was racing, and her legs were weak. The girl held up enough of her own weight so the Hyuuga could carry her without difficulty.

Once he was in the tiny hallway, the guard on duty jumped up, hoping they didn't notice he was almost asleep. Neji wasn't sure what to do from here, but his problem was soon solved as the large man unlocked Tenten's door. He thanked the guard, and walked in.

He was surprised how small the room was, the only room he had ever been in this small was a store room. He didn't believe someone lived in this. Nonetheless, he set her down on the low bed, taking a seat beside her. He rubbed her back a little as she calmed down. After the better of an hour had past, Neji got up and left the room so he could head up to his room, assuming she would sleep. However, Tenten would not be asleep for a few hours yet.

* * *

A few days later Tenten was still contemplating how to tell the rest of the girls about her discovery. She didn't know if telling them their names upfront was very safe, given that someone could easily find the note. Still, they had a right to know. She decided to write them each a warning to watch for a very important message. Getting out her writing tools she began four identical letters. 

Not a minute after she was done she heard a quiet shuffling and the familiar sound of paper being slipped under the door. She immediately grabbed the note. It was on plain white paper, with black writing. She opened it up, and to her delight found it was her first message from Hinata.

_Number Three,_

_It has been a long time since I've spoken to you, __and I know you have been using this note system__for a little while, but I was too nervous to try it. I__hope this will get to you safely._

_There's something important I need to tell you...__I'm not sure how to say it... It's just that ... well... __I'm sorry, I can't say __right now. It is difficult... _

_Perhaps another time..._

_Four _

It was disappointingly short and seemed to have been written very fast. At least some contact had been made with her friend. So they both had something important to tell each other now. Tenten had always liked to get as much news as possible, and she hoped what Hinata had to say wasn't the same thing as her.

She looked out, seeing that her friend had already retreated back to her room, but there was still no guard out. She hurriedly opened the door, going across the hall to number five's room. She kneeled down, and started to slide the note under the door, when she heard,

"What's going on here?!"

* * *

Did anyone get anything that just happened? I didn't think so. I had to change them around because Neji was being too OOC! Don't worry though, in the next chapter, things will come out clear as mud! 

I had the notes in this really cool format, but when I uploaded it, this website runined it, so I had to use boring plain format. THANKS A LOT!! Now this chapter looks stupid! AHGHG I'M SO PISSED!

REEEEEVIIIEWWW!

Next update will be around the time of my birthday, which is in two weeks! -excitement- I'm a little kid, get over it. But I might just get TOO excited and forget to put it up! The only way to solve this problem is to review to get me thinking about it!

_Many, many long reviews,_

_will make this author happy._

_So get on writing right away_

_Or you don't get a Chappy._


	4. Distraction

**Fourteen years ago today, in the McMaster hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, at approximately 3:30 P.M. – a legacy was born. That legacy ...**

**was me.**

That's right! Today's my fourteenth birthday! Happy Birthday to me! And here's a present for all of you! Chapter Four! Weeeeee! As always, here is my thank you and explanations to my reviewers: **sallyluv16, Eriesha, tenjichan, Tsukiko Yuki, B.Q. (So nice! And I saw you reviewed my Bleach story – thank you!), Matahari, Merciless Ruby, 10Join-Fei, Gina Ichimaru's girl, flamerider05, lehcar-light, BitterLife (please don't rip all your hair out)**

**ShikaTema.rox.like.hell (I agree) – **Yeeeeaaah. I thought people would get confused by the whole green thing. Temari was kind of a default colour. I had those five colours chosen (because I have OCD for colourful things), and green and Temari were left over. Sakura actually doesn't look to good in all green, and she wears red in the series, so that's how I chose her colour. I know most people associate green with Sakura, but that's the way it is. Don't ask me when Sasuke became fashion-conscious.

As to the "How-old-am-I" thing... I don't really... hang out with older people very often, especially not particularly eloquent older people... so I wouldn't really know. To be honest you sound a little bit like my best friend (only you aren't insulting me - hahaha. No, I love her), and she's fourteen, turning fifteen soon. She's really smart though, and good... at... big words... ARTICULATE! That's the word I'm looking for. That reply was way too long ...

**Ottpop – **Plot device, don't question it. (Earthworm Jim reference! Whoot!) ... this reply I mean.

**Disclaimer: **(Count this for all chapters) If I owned Naruto, Sasuke wouldn't be such an ass. That should be enough.

By the way, any characters who I don't name, are made up, and also unimportant, so don't ask.

* * *

"_What's going on here?!"_

**Chapter 4**

Tenten looked up in the direction the voice was coming from. Time seemed to slow and stop as she realized it was her master. She was in deep trouble now.

To make things worse, Ino and Sakura chose that time to also come out of their rooms, long letters in both of their hands. The pink-haired girl immediately dropped hers, bowing before the man. Without speaking, the tall man took each of their notes from them. He read through them quickly.

"Something important to tell everyone, Number Three?" She winced at her slave number being used instead of her real name. Now that she knew it, any other name was just wrong. "Well, if it's so important, would you like to share?" He wasn't actually giving her an option.

Tenten thought fast.

"I – I found out that one of the male servants is infatuated with me. Just girlish gossip really, I don't suppose you'd find it important," Then just to be safe, the girl added " Master."

"Which servant is this?" The black-haired slave master asked, protective of his property.

"Umm...I can't remember his name... He has... short black hair... and... black eyes." She lied, making the person as generic as possible. She just hoped he would buy it. He looked into her eyes for a moment, searching for any trace of a lie. Then he turned back to the subject at hand.

"How long has this note-passing been going on without my knowing?" He questioned the three teens. Always wanting to be in the masters favour, Sakura stepped forward.

"About a week, lordship." She said quietly. The master smiled slightly, patting her on the head. She pulled on the fabric of her cherry-coloured robe, the exact same style of all the other girls'. When she was sure no one was looking, Tenten stuck out her tongue at Sakura, childishly mouthing the word 'tattletale'. The man called for the other two slave girls. When all five teenagers were standing in the small hallway, the looked over each one, before commanding,

"All of you, get every note you have ever received or were going to send." As if they had planned it, each girl turned and walked back into their rooms at the same time. Tenten pulled out the eight notes she had received so far. However, she didn't want to get Hinata in trouble. Hinata wasn't as brave, so she would probably end up telling him whatever she meant just to tell Tenten, instead of a clever lie. So she removed the white paper from the group, tucking it deep within her pale pink robe.

Soon enough, there was a small pile lying in front of their master, mostly comprised of notes sent back and forth by Ino and Sakura. He picked up each note, reading it through carefully, as if checking for some secret code. After he finished reading one message, he'd crumple it, throw it away, and reach for a new one, all the while with the trademark grimace etched onto his face.

The painfully silent minutes stretched on, as the pile in front of him steadily shrunk at the same rate the crumpled pile behind him grew. At last he came to the final, mercifully short letter. He scanned this the same as the rest, tossing it aside. He gazed at his five girls quizzically, before sighing in frustration.

"You would think after figuring out how to communicate regularly with all this security, you would actually have something relevant to talk about." He commented nastily. "Number two, that was _way _more than I needed to know about how you feel while on your period." Ino blushed darkly. Temari let out a barely concealed giggle.

"You have nothing to laugh about Five. From what I can tell, you were the one who devised this system. After I have dismissed you, you are to go directly downstairs, where my dear friend will decide on a punishment for you." Tenten remembered the man who had sentenced her to all those ridiculous punishments a few weeks before. She was about to speak out against this, but he continued before she could.

"However, since it is obvious I can't stop you from communicating somehow, I would rather you talked to each other where I can know what you're saying, so I don't have to come up and read your silly little messages." The man stopped for a moment, thinking, "Yes... Okay... Here's the rule. You may – in a time selected by myself – all go out into the _back _courtyard and speak to each other freely. Under heavy surveillance, of course. You are not to speak of things that you couldn't tell me, and you are not to leave the back. I think that is more than fair, don't you?" All five nodded mutely, each impatiently waiting until he was gone so they could talk about this new change.

"This rule will take affect tomorrow. Tonight, for the first time in many weeks, we are going to dine together. Our guests will also be joining us. Wear your simpler kimono, and put your hair in the approved style. Except _you_, of course number four, given that it is impossible to do anything with your hair. A servant will come and get you at the right time. No discussion. That is all." Sasuke finished, then turned sharply on his heel and strode away. By now a new guard had arrived in time to hear the order of 'no discussion'. With no option to talk, the girls each went grudgingly back to their rooms.

At last, a chance to wear her favourite kimono. Despite the fact that the girl hated eating with her master, she was glad of the opportunity. Glad, that was something she hadn't really felt in a while. Something was making her emotions come back to her, but what?

Tenten shook her head. Quickly she slipped off her pink uniform robe, pulling on the satiny white kimono. She tied the obi, then began to fish through her tiny clothes closet. Eventually she felt a small elastic under her finger tips. The slave frowned deeply as she took her hair out of the style she preferred, instead tying it back in a ponytail. Rather than wearing the straw sandals, she slipped her everyday shoes back on, hoping no one would mind.

* * *

On the other end of the social ladder, Neji was upstairs in his room, looking weary. He hadn't slept very well the past few nights, his dreams were continuously plagued by images of_ her. _Who was wrapped around who's finger now? Things were not going according to plan. Every time the white-eyed boy allowed his mind to wander slightly, he would think of that girl, and that tightness would once again grip his chest. 

She was like a disease - a disease with no cure. How could he have let this happen? How could he abandon the plan so easily?

The first night this had happened, he lost his temper. Neji Hyuuga doesn't lose his temper very often, but when Neji Hyuuga _does_ lose his temper - he _really _loses it. The man had thrown things at the walls, broken nearly everything that wasn't his, shouted a whole lot, and swore at the maids who came to see what was wrong. He had never been so distracted and frustrated in his entire life, he didn't know what to make of it. There were so many thoughts racing through his mind, it felt like he was at bursting point. Every crash, snap and splinter the Hyuuga caused helped his anger a little bit, until it had slowly ebbed away. Once he had calmed, he forced himself to keep a rational train of thought.

No, she wasn't a disease. She was an enormous puzzle. You were left to find everything and it's place, with only a small picture to guide you.

Neji growled low in his throat. He tangled his hands into his dark hair, which had long since come out of it's low ponytail, and was now hanging loose around his shoulders, but was still amazingly neat and perfect. It wasn't as though he had no feelings at all... was it? There was... boredom... annoyance... the occasional smugness... Okay, there were very few, but they were still there. But still... Could it be possible that this girl had given him new emotion?

Of course not. He was making this more of an issue than it really was. She was below him, and he was too proud to ever fall for someone like that.

_Then explain why you didn't have her 'below' you when you had the chance? _His conscience asked slyly, somewhere in the back of his mind.

' I – Well... I didn't...'

_Hah! Beaten by your own sense of judgment! Oh, how the mighty have fallen..._

' What I was GOING to say was, I didn't feel the need to then. If I had really wanted to, I would have. I just... wasn't in the mood. I only took her up here because it's impolite to refuse a gift.'

_And since __**when **__did you care about being polite to an Uchiha?_

' I- ...Why are you insulting me when we're the same person?'

_I'm not insulting you, I'm giving you some much needed common sense._

The Hyuuga had nothing to say to that, instead he calmed himself, looking for a logical answer to why he was so distracted all the time. He was a genius after all. Maybe he really did need some. It _had_ been a very long time since he had allowed a girl to...

'That's it!'

He wasn't feeling anything for the slave girl. He just desired her, that's all. After the man had his way with her, all of this would go away. Tonight he would get her to come up to his room, so he could 'fix' his little problem.

_You'd better hurry your ass up, then, before it's too late. _His subconscious reminded him.

'Yes, they'll have to find out the truth sooner or later. Once they do, having her won't be an option any more.' Neji frowned. His mind was racing as he quickly formulated a plan.

Until his thoughts were rudely interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in." He said loudly. The door opened an a frightened looking maid with short blue hair tip toed in. She didn't not look directly at the white-eyed man, but put her hands behind her back, and spoke quickly, apparently to the ground. ( **A/N:** And the winner of the Hinata look-alike contest is...)

"The master requests you join him for dinner in the grand hall tonight. Dinner begins at 7:00. He hopes you don't mind that he brought his five slave girls with him" The words came out together, given that the girl was so nervous. As soon as she finished, she hurried out of the room.

Neji gave her words a few seconds to take affect. He grinned, now would be the perfect oppourtunity to get Tenten alone. With out another thought, he went to get dressed.

* * *

After nearly an hour there was a knock at the door, and a voice barked, "Time to go." 

Tenten hurriedly left the room, falling into step with the four other girls. Silently, they followed the servant downstairs to the dining hall. On the way they passed by the door to the servants' dining room, which was just two long picnic style tables, where over a hundred servants for all purposes ate left overs and whatever the cooks could create between fancy meals for important people.

A few servants roaming here and there, carrying baskets of laundry or cleaning supplies, glowered at the group of slaves, knowing they would eat well that night. In Tenten's opinion there was nothing to be angry about, even if for once they would eat a proper meal, those servants would never know the awkwardness and fear of eating with the rich.

Without a word, the five girls were led through the giant maplewood doors and into the enormous dining hall. The table was very long for having so few people sitting at it. The seats for slaves were on the far side from the door. In the order of their numbers, the teens lined up and walked towards their seats.

Once seated, five guards came and attached shackles to the girls' legs, then slid each individual key into their pockets, and got into formation between every girl. Their master had already taken his seat at the head of the table. There was no guard between him and Sakura, and only she was allowed to speak to him. Across from the slaves sat Neji Hyuuga, several other important looking men, and a woman.

Obviously there was a reason the master summoned them to have dinner with them. Usually when he did this, he had something to announce, but today the ebony-haired man didn't look like he was about to get up and say anything.

There was no sound except for shuffling feet, the tick of chopsticks, the occasional cough, and a little bit of polite conversation here and there as the people at the polished table worked their way through the first course. Tenten remembered to only eat a little at each course, because she was expected to eat something out of every one, and her stomach wasn't made to hold a lot of food at a time.

As she fed herself dainty bites, the brunette felt someone's eyes on her. Drawing her gaze away from the plate in front of her, she immediately locked eyes with Neji. She blushed, looking down swiftly.

Why was he watching her like that? Tenten brought a hand up to her face to check if she had gotten anything on it. No... So why then? She looked back over, he was smirking, which was his way of laughing at her. The slave glared.

'Heh, she so wants me...'Neji's ego laughed.

The plates of crumbs and half-finished food were removed, and replaced with the main course. Tenten began to eat again, every little while glancing at the Hyuuga when she thought he wasn't looking. As soon as he would looked back at her, her chocolate eyes would quickly move in a different direction. Once or twice they found themselves watching each other at the same time, in which case Tenten would back down, and Neji would just sit there and grin cockily.

_'What is wrong with that guy? He's staring at me, and it's annoying.' _The slave growled in her mind.

' Haha she likes this... I bet she'll be waiting for me when dinner's over' Neji chuckled

_'Okay, as soon as we're allowed out in the hall, I'll take off to my room...'_

' All I have to do is come over to her and...'

_'I hope he doesn't try to talk to me or anything, I __**really **__don't want to see him right now...'_

' She must be pining for me over there.' (**A/N**: -sweatdrop-)

It was another half hour until the final course was brought. Tenten had been so busy wondering what was going through that white-eyed man's head, that she hadn't been paying attention to the fact that her hand was automatically bringing food to her mouth on her chopsticks. Now she was too full to eat anymore, so she just messed up the new food a little so it looked like she had eaten some. The girl didn't usually have to use this trick, then again, there usually wasn't an attractive guy staring at her while she ate.

At last dinner was finished,but still nobody had said a word. All eyes turned to the head of the table, waiting for the master of the house to dismiss them. The black-haired man took his time wiping his hands on his napkin in a dignified manner. Slowly, he stood.

"Honoured guests, staff, and girls," He began, addressing each as he named them, " At first I would like to say that was a satisfying dinner, wouldn't you say?" There was a murmur of agreement for one side of the table, the slaves not being permitted to say anything.

"Also, I have an announcement to make." Finally. " Tomorrow we will be welcoming three new guests to the house. They will arrive together, and be staying for three weeks. I have decided that it is too time-consuming to introduce you to each person who stays here personally, so I will tell you all you need to know tonight. One is from the Nara clan, one from the Inuzaka, and the last is in line to become the next Hokage of the hidden leaf village." He spit out the last few words as though he had something extremely bad tasting in is mouth.

"Now, they are aware that I am keeping slaves, and that there are other guests in the house. They do not mind you girls walking around the manor while they are here. Also one or more of them may feel the need to have one of you sent up to their room." He grinned slightly.

The man raised his arm towards the side of the table with important people on it, motioning that they leave the room. As soon as they were gone, he told the guards to unchain the five teens, then walked out of the dining hall himself.

With no one telling them where to go, each girl left the room and took off in her own direction. Tenten made a bee line for the stairs that would take her back to her room. She took off as fast as she dared along the wall.

Suddenly she felt her back being pressed against the wall, and she was trapped between it and the arms of the last person she wanted to be with, Neji Hyuuga. The girl attempted to duck under his arm, but he grabbed her shoulder to keep her in place. He leaned in so his mouth was less than an inch from her ear.

"I need you." He breathed.

Tenten nearly choked on her own saliva. Did he just he 'needed' her? Sure, she had heard the same words many times from the men who came to her room, but she had been sure that he was asexual or something. Since in all the times he had been close to her, he had never once attempted to make a serious move on her.

In a sudden movement, he pulled her away from the small crowd, and into a side hall, where he pinned her flush against his own body. The girl blushed and her breathing hitched a little bit. He lifted his arm from it's rest on her shoulder, reaching down as if to cup her breast -

When another hand caught Neji's.

"I like it when people ask my permission before touching my things." Came a cold voice. Tenten's master slowly pulled the Hyuuga's arm back down to his side.

With what seemed like intense difficulty, Neji muttered, "Forgive me." He then stiffly bowed and walked away. Sasuke turned back to the young slave.

"Are you going to stand there gawking at me all night?" Jumping slightly, Tenten shook her head and hurried off to her room. Each stair seemed to grow higher and farther away as she climbed.

At last in the safety of her bedroom. The brunette tried to calm her rapidly beating heart. What was this reaction about? So many times had that happened to her, because some guy thought he was sexy, but she had always kept her perfect poker face through it all. So why did she feel so intimidated and... excited? Once the heat finally slipped out of the girl's face and her pounding heart slowed to normal speed, she thought everything through calmly.

'_Okay, so... should I avoid him, or spend more time around him? I need to find out why I'm so nervous around him... C-could it be – no. I'm not a sucker for guys like that. Sakura and Ino may be like that, but I'm not. Hey! I got it! Tomorrow when we get to talk I'll ask them what to do!'_

She smiled a little bit, her mind finally at peace. She took her hair out of the ponytail she disliked so, changed into her sleep clothes, and crawled into bed.

* * *

**And now for the fans, I present... a bit of SasuSaku fluff**

Sasuke sighed as he watched the brown-haired teen sprint off to the staircase. What was that Hyuuga playing at? He had never known any in his family to be so forward like that. Oh well.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a bit of pink headed in the same direction. The man smirked as he remembered what he had told the girl.

_Flashback of Five Minutes Ago (Hey, this __**is**__ Naruto)_

_Sakura was eating her meal quietly and demurely. She felt the Uchiha's eyes on her. The pink haired girl looked up and smiled softly, making sure to have eye contact. Being able to meet his eyes was a privilege for her and her alone, because she was so good. It also meant that she was given a lot of nice things, which was supposedly some sort of bribe to make her keep behaving properly. However, she suspected that it was more like Sasuke's way of a romantic gesture._

_But she would never say that to him._

_They began a conversation about nothing in particular. He asked her a few questions, and she would answer obediently. Sakura did not even notice that the food she had been eating was taken away and replaced with the last course. Sasuke looked at her directly, and she could tell he had something important to tell her._

"_I'm afraid, my blossom, that I won't be able to 'visit' with you for a while. I'm juggling a lot of business deals, and the men arriving tomorrow are going to add a whole lot more." Sakura pouted, then hesitantly reached her hands out and grabbed his arm. When he made no move to shake her off, the slave held his arm tighter to her body, looking up at him with shining eyes._

"_Oh..." Was all she could really say. Sasuke chuckled a bit._

"_I'll tell you what," He leaned in, speaking a little lower, "Tonight after dinner, I'll come to your room. I promise you'll have enough to last you through the next while without me." He pulled away smirking, then as a side note, added, "Be ready for me when I get there."_

_Sakura blushed heavily, before she even had time to reply, the plates were being collected once again, and her master cleaning off his hands, giving her a clear end-of-discussion feeling._

_End Flashback_

The pink-haired girl tore out of the dining hall, through the entrance room, up the stairs and onto the landing. There she tapped her foot impatiently as the guard on duty fumbled with the cherry red key, opening her door. After what seemed like forever, her room was open to her and she sped in, slamming the door behind her. It was important to the slave that she be ready before he arrived.

She sauntered over to her large vanity, examining her slightly frazzled appearance in the mirror. Sakura applied a small amount of clear gloss on her lips, and some colour around her eyes to make them stand out. After which she combed out her short pink hair which was a bit messy from running around everywhere.

Reaching into her vanity drawer, the teen pulled out one of her gifts from Sasuke, a light flower-scented perfume. She couldn't name the flower when she smelled it, but she was sure somewhere in the back of her mind she knew what it was. She spritzed herself on either side of her neck, then once onto a random part of her body, so it would be balanced.

There wasn't much she could do with her hair since it was so short. Eventually, she picked out a small red ribbon, and tied a lock of hair into a cute sort of side ponytail.

At last Sakura pulled out the final part of her ensemble. Yet another gift from The Uchiha teenager. It was a respectively low cut dress that covered half of her thighs. Crimson red in colour, it was made of a kind of shimmery fabric that made you think it was see-through. It was held onto her body by two straps of a slightly darker red. On the back was a blue circle, with the Uchiha fan sewn onto it. This dress was probably meant to be for Sasuke's future wife. The fact that he had given it to her made the girl giggle and blush each time she thought of it.

Quickly shedding her dinner clothes, she stepped into the outfit just in time to hear a knock at the door. Sakura quickly took in her appearance from all angles, then hurried to open it. She smiled seductively at the man standing in her doorway, who was currently brushing raven hair out of his eyes, and looking just too sexy for words.

Sasuke finally turned to observe the green-eyed girl in front of him. Perfect, as usual. It was times like these he thanked god that he had been born into a rich family, and that his family was no where near him.

The pale man wasted no time in stepping right into her personal space, his aura of power nearly overwhelming. Sakura played along, blushing and cowering slightly. In one quick movement, he grasped his pink haired slave around the waist, pushing her onto the bed. She laughed lightly as her body hit the mattress.

Sasuke immediately sat down next to the girl. Without hesitation, he began to slip a dark strap off her shoulder. She looked up at him, grinning.

"Certainly in a hurry tonight, aren't you?" She breathed teasingly.

"Someone may come to drag me back to my work any minute." He rasped, angry that a person would dare try and get in the way of his time with his Cherry Blossom. Whoever the unfortunate idiot was, he had better not come soon.

However, as luck would have it, the unfortunate idiot chose that time to rap on the wooden door.

Sasuke growled low in his throat, drawing away from the pink-haired beauty.

"M-Master Uchiha, i-it is t-time to come b-back to your w-w-work. N-No excuses." They boy stuttered. Although he had not come in, you could tell that the servant was a boy, probably no more than twelve years old. Sasuke sighed heavily.

"Alright, just one minute." He turned back to Sakura " Well, then, Blossom. It seemed our time together has been cut painfully short."

" I guess this was kind of a waste then, wasn't it." She smiled sadly.

"Not entirely." He whispered huskily. Before she had time to wonder what he meant, Sasuke leaned in, and captured her soft pink lips. The girl's eyes widened, but soon closed. He held onto the kiss for a few moments, then reluctantly pulled away.

Sakura brought her fingers up to her lips, and kept them there as her master got up an left the room. She was in shock.

Because, until now, for the entire time she had been living in his house, Sasuke had never once kissed her.

* * *

AWW! Look! Fluff! I found it! Sasuke's going soft! Sasuke's going soft! Sasuke's- -Gets killed- 

I love this chapter 'cause I made Neji be so many things! A spazz, a perv, ect. Also I had some foreshadowing! FOOORREESHAAADOWIIINNNG! OoOoOh! I have too much hyper, I know!

Holy crap, we had this huge scare at my school on the eighteenth. First thing in the morning, some kids sprayed dog repellent (wtf??) in the second floor, and people started getting sick from it! Everyone had to evacuate. (I was late that day, so I was never in the building -thanks her lucky stars-). Before we knew it there were police cars, fire trucks and ambulances showing up at our school! A few put on stretchers, and about 50 kids, and four teachers altogether were taken to the hospital! Some of them were in my class!

So my best friend, my sister and I all got on a city bus and went home. My other best friend wasn't there because on top of all this, buses had been delayed two hours due to heavy fog.

In the end, everyone who got sick was fine, and they caught the kids who did it. Still, that was so scary! Now, back on topic...

An invisible force is dragging your mouse to the review button, do not try to fight it.

Hey, think of it this way. If you review now, I'll mention you in the next chapter, and your name shall remain forever, if you wait... well... I'll still love you. TAKE PITY ON THIS POOR SOUL. It's my one provider of self-confidence... and... and... _**IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!**_

Anyways, I'm off to my party now. Hurray for partying in a hotel room 'cause your house is too messy! Oh yeah, next update...let's say... hmmm... two weeks...? I don't know, but I'm being rushed to get off the compy now - so...

-Cwin


	5. What Do I Feel?

Holy freaking crap! It's chapter five already! I never thought anyone would stick with the story this long. Thanks everyone! I got such nice birthday messages! I'm starting to get confused 'cause people are leaving reviews on other chapters. So if you reviewed on chapters One, Two or Three recently, and I forgot to add your name to the list, please tell me and I shall give myself a good slap in the face!

My thanks can not be expressed in mere words to: **Merciless Ruby, sallyluv16, 10Join-Fei, Ottpop, Cheerios Freak (You called me by my screename in your review – for some reason that made me feel so loved!) , B.Q, sexyinumama, Gina Ichimari's Girl (I think I'm sensing a pattern), anita, Flame (who didn't flame), Takariluver817, ShikaTema.rox.like.hell, kibaku0nendo, Call Me Shira ( Happy Belated Birthday!), lehcar-light, carrii-x3, Matahari, mel, LetUrSqueeFlow**

**MintiNeko –** I know, I know, I know! -cries- I'm sorry! I knew people would get messed up by their conflicting actions, and my weird writing style (Blame it on the ADD or something). I am very ashamed of chapters three and four...You have to understand, I don't like to write OOC, so after the second chapter, I tried to numb the whole 'I love you so much' thing. It didn't work out too well though. Let me try to explain their exact feelings at this point in the story:

Neji – He deeply cares for Tenten, he just doesn't know it yet. He's never been in love before, so now he's confused (that's adorable). He doesn't like not knowing how he feels, and he definitely doesn't want to admit that he's in love, so he just passes it off as just wanting to get into her pants. Now he's attempting to get close to her so that he can sleep with her as a willing participant, but unconsciously he's actually trying to get close to her because he has totally fallen for her!

Tenten - She has a really big inner conflict going on throughout a good portion of the story. I can't say that she truly loves Neji just yet. She knows she's supposed to hate him, but at the same time she doesn't really want to hate him. Mostly she sees him as a source of comfort, because on the first night he didn't try to do it and instead just talked to her. To Tenten, Neji is the one who will sit there and listen while she pours her heart out, kind of like a best friend.

Sasuke – ...Er... he has man-PMS

Just a bit more info – Sasuke is still a citizen of Konoha. He lives in another Uchiha mansion about 10 miles, or whatever the crap that is in kilometres (Lazy Canadian!) outside the village.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Tenten awoke the next morning to the sound of talking and knocking on the door next to hers. Lazily, she rolled out of bed, reaching blindly for the hairbrush atop her tiny cupboard. Finally, her fingers found the plastic teeth, and she pulled it off, brushing her hair even though she wasn't quite awake yet.

The voice reached her door.

"Your master's givin' you an hour to go outside, be ready in five minutes." She heard the feet shuffle away. The brunette sighed and smiled a big fake smile into her tiny mirror. Without hesitating any longer, she fastened the two buns on her head.

Within three minutes she was dressed and waiting in the hall with three other girls. The man was standing just inside Hinata's room, asking her what was taking so long.

"Um...I..." Came her soft voice, "M-may I p-please n-not come out today? I'm... ah... n-not feeling well..." It was a lie, and not a very well-told one at that, but nonetheless, the man shrugged, leaving her in her room. Tenten wondered why Hinata really didn't want to come out. Maybe she was afraid they would talk about bad things, and get her in trouble. Or maybe she had a secret that she was scared they would find out.

The four teens walked in pairs as they marched down the marble steps to the outdoors. The precision turned left, leading them around the house, past the kitchens and into the back courtyard.

If the front had been big, the back dwarfed it completely. However, most of the back was obscured by hedges separating where the slaves could and could not go. Still, they had far more than enough room to sit down on the grass and talk. They were surrounded by five guards, that stood at a comfortable distance, but still close enough that they could pick up a conversation.

Sakura sat down in front of Ino, who immediately began talking rapidly and styling her hair. Tenten rolled her eyes, and grinned when she noticed Temari had a similar reaction. The sandy blonde girl knelt down carefully, tucking her robe underneath her. Tenten flopped face first onto the grass, not caring if she stained her pink clothes. She could count on them being washed for her unless she got in trouble.

" I can't believe that I'm finally able to really talk to you guys!" Ino exclaimed loudly.

"Yeah, it get's kinda boring sitting there on your own all the time. Stupid security." Temari replied, waving her hand a little. One of the guards glared a little.

The four quickly struck up a conversation that everyone could enjoy. Mostly about their daily lives, or things that annoyed them, or wishes. Typical girl things. Tenten found herself smiling a lot more talking to them, and almost laughing at parts.

Temari had just finished telling them a funny story about a man that she had scared so much that he ran out of the room without picking up his clothes. She had dumped them outside her door instead of waiting for him to come back for them. Ino and Sakura laughed hysterically as she started to impersonate him. Sakura's pastel hair now had two plaits in it. Ino's long platinum blonde locks had taken many styles courtesy of Sakura, but was now hanging loosely around one shoulder. Suddenly Tenten remembered what she had wanted to tell the girls about.

"A-ahem." The brunette began. All eyes turned on her. "I have something to ask you guys."

"Shoot." Sakura said bluntly.

"Well it's about Neji Hyuuga." There was a chorus of 'ohhh's and three knowing looks. "I -I don't know what to make of him. I'm not sure how I feel about him. One part of me can't stand him, because he's just like all the other men who come here, but at the same time I realize that he's never had his way with me, in all the chances he got, and he comforted me once when I needed it. I only considered him someone who could be a sort of friend.

"Until last night, when he cornered me after dinner. And my thinking of him became totally out of whack. But here's the weird thing, when he had me against the wall... it... well, it wasn't entirely bad. T-that's not what I mean, what I mean is, instead of just feeling angry, I got all flustered and sort of - for lack of a better word – anxious. So what I'm wondering is, should I spend _more _time around Neji, or should I avoid him?"

For a minute there was silence, then Sakura burst out laughing.

"You sound just like I did when I first confessed to Sa- I mean master." Sakura was the only one allowed to address the master by name, but not to the other slave girls. Temari gave the pink-haired girl a hard push.

"Don't laugh at her, can't you see how confused she is? Okay, I admit, it is kind of like that, but you don't just _say _that- oh, I'm sorry!" Tenten was now staring down at her feet, embarrassed.

"Seriously though," Said Ino, surprising everyone, " It's possible that you _don't _like this guy. Maybe you're like forehead, who thinks that she's in love with every mildly charming guy that makes a move on her- I mean before the master." The blonde added quickly, dodging Sakura's fist.

"You now, for once you may be right, Two." They still didn't know their real names. " It could be that you've confused your feelings, because no one's ever treated you like that before. Hmmm, my advice is spend more time around him. It's the only way you'll be able to figure out how you really feel about him. Oh, don't let him know that's why you're doing it, and try to think rationally!"

"I agree with One." Temari nodded.

"Me too!" Chimed Ino.

"We're all in agreement then," Sakura smiled "Tonight, seek him out, but make it look like an accident. Then just let things unfold, okay?" The brunette nodded slightly. Then Ino seemed to remember something.

"Man you are getting pretty popular these days. What about that servant boy who likes you? The one you told us about yesterday. Well, what does _he _do?" The two other teens across for Tenten brightened, then came the bombardment of questions.

"Who is he?"

"Is he cute?"

"What did he say to you?"

"What did he do to you?"

"How old is he?"

"How big is his-"

"Okay, stop!" Tenten shouted. The three immediately shut up. " There isno servant boy that likes me, that I know of anyway. Couldn't you tell I made that up?" She lowered her voice so the guards wouldn't hear, not that they looked like they were paying attention anyway.

"I was lying because I didn't want the master to find out what I had to tell you. You won't tell, will you?" They all knew she meant Sakura, who shook her head. "Okay, I want you to know that I found out... well... who you all are. Your names I mean." There was silence, then Tenten pointed to the platinum blonde on her left. "Ino Yamanaka." Then right in front of her. "Sakura Haruno." And to her right. "Temari of the desert." Then she pointed at herself. "And I'm Tenten."

They fell into a long awkward silence, all were in shock. Temari pulled nervously on the collar of her dark mint robe. Ino coughed nervously.

"Sa...kura...?" The green-eyed teen whispered, her hands clasped over her chest. After that no one said anything for a while. In their silence they heard loud voices in the front courtyard, which could only mean one thing, the new guests had arrived. The guards standing around them strived to look at them around the house. It was as that time one of them finally spoke.

"Hey, we've still got ten minutes left..." Temari, who had apparently been keeping track of time, grinned exitedly. "We should go spy on those new guests!"

"Yeah, great idea, except that we're being watched!" Ino retorted sarcastically. They all looked around at the guards surrounding them, then sighed. Suddenly, Sakura perked up.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Reaching into the front of her cherry coloured robe, she pulled out a powder blue compact. The two blondes looked sceptical, but Tenten immediately caught on.

"Oh, I see! Here, give that to me, I've got the best aim." Sakura handed the tiny make up case to the brunette. One could clearly see the stakes that marked off the security lines. If you went past one, an alarm would sound for that one section, but if you were unlucky enough to hit one of the poles, the entire back courtyard would go off. Tenten focused on the one closest to her, aimed, and with a flick of her wrist, hit the thin metal stake dead on. The entire back suddenly exploded with noise as the loud, shrieking alarm went off. Without a second thought, the guards ran into the hedges and out of sight.

Seizing their oppourtunity, the four girls jumped up, running full speed along the side of the house.

"You could have told me that was your plan." Ino panted heavily as they stopped to look around the front, "You nearly gave me heart failure."

"Shut up Ino-pig." Sakura hissed, catching onto her name quickly. The four peeked around into the front. Four figures were walking up the path to the house. The first Tenten recognized as the sniveling little man who always greeted guests. All the others she couldn't place, though they all seemed to be her age.

Walking at the front of the procession was an annoying-looking blonde boy, who was eagerly searching for the source of the alarm, which was going off almost as loudly as he was talking. The greeter assured him the guards would take care of it, but the blonde just kept looking around. He almost saw the girls, but they quickly pulled out of sight.

The next was a boy with wild brown hair, who was repeatedly growling at the annoying kid to shut up. Next to him was a gigantic white dog, who he could have easily ridden on. The dog made some whining an barking noises, which the wild-looking boy apparently understood, because he started to laugh.

Following slowly behind them was the last one Tenten couldn't recognize. He was tall, with dark brown hair tied in a spiky ponytail. His hand were laced behind his head, and he was staring into the sky as though the clouds were far more interesting than whatever was causing the commotion. The girl looked behind her to find her blonde friend staring with a slight pink tinge on her face.

"C'mon, the guards will be back soon." Sakura mumbled. Somewhat reluctantly, they pulled away from the scene, walking into the back, giggling lightly. Once back, they dropped onto the grass and spent the rest of their time talking about the boys they had seen.

* * *

That night Tenten sat cross-legged on her bed, retying her hair. Her mind was racing to try and come up with what she would say to Neji when she met him, figuring if she wandered the corridors enough she'd eventually bump into him. She planned to leave as soon as her hair was done.

She heard noise out in the hall. The brunette knelt down next to her door, opening it just a crack. All she could see was Temari, her hands tied before her. She couldn't see who held the rope, but whoever it was, the blonde was cursing them at the top of her voice. Tenten strained to see who the other person, but couldn't risk opening the door any further and alerting them of her presence.

The girl listened at the door until the footsteps and swearing died away, the stood and brushed herself off. She exited the room quietly, not looking at the guard as she passed. She turned the corner and... speak of the devil.

"N-Neji!" Tenten stuttered, having nearly bumped into him. "W-what are you doing down here?"

"I was coming to see you." He answered casually "Why? Don't tell me you were thinking the same thing." The slave panicked.

"You wish! I-I was just going for...uh... food! Yeah, food!" She blushed, silently praying that hadn't sounded as lame as she thought it did. "But since you're here, I might just humor you."

"Well, I'm flattered." He said sarcastically. Grabbing her arm he commanded, "Come to my room with me."

He pulled her for a while, eventually letting go once she promised not to run away. They walked side by side the entire way until at last the two reached his temporary bedroom. Neji opened the door, allowing the girl to go in first. Once again, she took in the beauty and detail of the suite. The white-eyed man strode over to the loveseat, then patted the seat next to him, indicating that she sit down. Tenten took the invitation, breathing a soft sigh as she settled into the comfortable couch.

"You told me before that you weren't sent here for a while after you were enslaved. I'm curious, tell me a little bit more, unless that bothers you." Okay, so he didn't _really _care that much, but he knew she wanted to tell him, and he needed to get closer to this girl. To find out what made her tick, so that he, in turn, could discover what was so distracting about her. The way she brightened told him that he had chosen correctly.

"Let me see... I already told you I had been training to become a ninja. I guess I left out the part that, when I was in my first master's house I continued training in secret. When I wasn't doing housework for them I would go downstairs and practice. My master's son was a chuunin, fourteen years old. I told him my story, and he agreed to teach me in his spare time."

"Ah." Neji voiced tonelessly.

"I trained for two and a half years that way. He would bring me different weapons for all over the house, since that was my specialty. We would spar for hours, and he never went easy on me just because I was a kid, and a girl. I think I was his only friend, and I looked forward to the long night hours of training. As a matter of fact, I had a bit of a crush on him."

For some reason, Neji suddenly felt a large amount of spite towards this boy, but he said nothing, letting her continue.

"But he became a jounin, then ANBU, and by that time I had already become this kind of slave. A year later my master had gotten some new slaves, and I was put on the market, then sold here." She finished with a sad smile.

"And what became of that boy?" The man asked.

"He died, on his first mission as an ANBU. I overheard some officals talking about it one day. It took me a long time to get over that, but by then I already had Hinata." Neji frowned slightly at the shy girl's name.

"Did Hinata ever tell you about where she came from?" He asked, a little worried.

"No, I already told you. One slave telling their sob story to another is useless. I always figured she came from a family like mine. Why do you ask? Do you know something about it?" Tenten looked directly into his eyes, searching for an answer.

He quickly turned away. "No, I'm afraid I don't. Just curious."

_Maybe they really aren't related after all. _The brunette thought, a bit disheartened, _They're the only people I've ever met with white eyes. Still, there's a lot to this world I don't know._

Neji quickly changed the subject.

"So you trained to be a ninja with this boy every day, and never got caught?" Tenten nodded. " Well if you want, I could train you." The girl light up at these words.

"Really?! You would?" Her eyes were shining with anticipation.

"Yes I would." The boy answered with confidence, " I'll prove it to you. I'll take you to train right now. C'mon!"

"But wait! I-"

She was silenced by the look her gave her. Without another word the two left the bedroom and walked three flights of stairs into the basement. She wondered where he was taking her to train, and more importantly what she would fight him with, since obviously she had no weapons.

They turned a sharp left. Tenten had never been this way before, since there had always been someone guarding it. They travelled down a lighted hallway, before stopping at a large door, patterned with two dragons, nose to tail. One was sleeping the other had it's eyes open and flaring. He looked as though he would strike out at anyone unfriendly who tried to come in.

As they opened the door, no dragon attacked them, but she felt temporarily blinded as hundreds of bright lights shone into her eyes. After blinking a couple of times the slave regained her vision, and suddenly was met with the most beautiful sight she had ever seen.

Weapons! Glorious weapons! The gigantic room had all for walls covered in hundreds, thousands, of gleaming, newly-sharpened tools. Anything you could imagine. There shelves of kunai, various sized shuriken, swords and daggers of every kind imaginable, a handful of axes, archery sets, sickles, heavy wooden staffs, spears, a couple maces, and even one carefully handled crossbow. There were a couple suits of armour as well. She almost felt like crying with joy. They had come to the armoury!

Neji stood in the doorway, as he watched the girl rabidly examine and try out many of the weapons. He didn't think he had ever seen her so happy. Strange things happen when you separate a girl and her passion for eight years.

"Take as many as you can carry!" He called to her, "I'm not taking any for you." After a couple minutes she returned, arms full with mostly kunai and shuriken, an excited flush on her face. He took her out to the back courtyard, which he was allowed passage to. After passing the hedges that separated them from the rest of the back yard, Tenten finally saw how big this place really was. She didn't have much time for admiring though, as Neji had immediately jumped for her

She dropped the things she carried, first blocking his flying kick with her arms, driving her back a few feet. He flew back. She took this chance, throwing eight senbon at him, which all narrowly went past him.

"You missed." He grinned, but she smiled wider.

"Wasn't trying to hit you." Backing up a little, Tenten kicked off a nearby stump, flying over his head and landing just behind him. He turned but, she twirled her arms, pulling all the senbon around and trapping him with nearly invisible bonds.

_Ah, she attached them to her fingers with strings. She's good. Still, I haven't activated my Byakugan, and I don't plan to this battle. Also they aren't chakra strings, so.._

Neji reached for a kunai that had fallen by his feet, and with a single swipe, cut effortlessly through the wire. The two jumped away from each other. A few graceful backflips and she was back to where she had left her weapons. The girl threw wave after wave of dangerous object at him, though he was able to dodge all of them. Whenever he got close enough, he aimed to strike her, but she was able to block most of them.

After ten minutes of this, he finally got a strong kick to her chest. She flew backwards a good ten feet, landing flat on her back. With inhuman speed, he was on top of her, pinning the girl to the ground.

"Game over," he grinned cockily. Suddenly he heard a tear of fabric, and a razor sharp blade rested on his neck. Wrapping her powerful legs around his waist, she flipped them, sword still trained on his neck. He looked down. One side of her robe was ripped at the base. She had been keeping that sword next to her leg the whole time! When... and how did she do _that_?

" I win." She panted, a triumphant smile plastered on her face. Neji sighed, and she eventually lifted the blade away, allowing them both to stand. Only after the glow of victory faded did she realize what she had done to win. She gasped, grabbing at the robe where it had torn enough to see her bare leg.

"Oh no, what have I done! I'm going to get in huge trouble for this. Unless I can sew it up without someone noticing, but I can't go in there without anyone seeing... Ohhh, I'm screwed!" The slave panicked. Neji walked behind her, placing his arm around her shoulders.

"I've got an idea, but you have to trust me." She nodded, waiting for his plan, "Fall back, pretend your asleep." She was a little confused but did as he said. With his other arm, he held her under the knees, so he was carrying her bridal style. The way he held her, the rip was hidden between folds of fabric. Tenten smiled, silently thanking him.

The dark-haired boy carried her back to his room, where the two sat on the bed, discussing how they would train in future. All the while there was a slight pink colour on her cheeks. After she had sewn the rip in her robe passably well, she started the drift off a little bit.

"I think I should go to bed now." He stood to let her out of the room, but to his surprise found the girl crawling onto his bed, her small form snuggling up into one side of it. He stared, bewildered for a moment, before realizing how tired he was as well.

Neji got into the other side of the bed, figuring she wouldn't really care this time around. When he was certain the girl was asleep he turned to her.

Under her perfect feign of sleep, Tenten felt something soft brush her forehead, then quickly move away.

* * *

The next day around ten A.M., the girls were outside again, having their daily social time. The only change was, today Hinata had decided to join them. Tenten had tracked her down earlier that day, telling her of her real name.

Today had been pretty much the same, talking about girl things, telling amusing stories. Tenten recounted some of the previous night's events, mostly a detailed story of how she whooped that man's butt, and showed them the quick fix she had done on her robe. She left out the part where he carried her off to his room and slept in bed with her. Though thinking about it made her whole body feel warm in a nice sort of way.

"Wow that must have been some exciting victory," Ino commented, "Your face is all red."

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, did you figure out how you feel around Neji?" Sakura asked. Tenten smiled slightly, Hinata looked concerned.

" Well, the feeling isn't... bad. Still I think I need to try and spend some more time with him until I'm sure." Three of the girls congratulated her. However Hinata looked deeply worried now. She silently pulled on the sleeve of Tenten's robe.

"What is it, Hin- I mean..." The guards were still watching.

"I-it's about... N-Neji..." The indigo-haired girl mumbled, tapping her fingers together. "Th-there's s-something you need t-to know." Tenten, reached down of hold her friend's hand.

"Is this what you needed to tell me when you sent me that note the other day?" Hinata nodded mutely. "So what is it?"

"Neji is... is... you shouldn't trust him!" The brown-haired girl was taken aback, she had never seen Hinata have an outburst like that. " I've never told you this, but I was really from a rich family, and they sold me anyway. Neji is... my cousin. He's part of the family that betrayed me!"

* * *

GASP! WELL WE NEVER SAW _THAT_ ONE COMING DID WE? -sarcasm-

Oh dear, oh dear! How is poor Tenten going to take this? You'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out! Oooooh!

I doubt anyone cares, but you know the auditions I mentioned in the second chapter? Yeah, I did the singing and dance auditions. Big new is - my two best friends got into the musical, but I didn't. Oh well, that's okay 'cause I signed up for crew.

I'm sorry to say people, but the next update isn't going to be for a while. I'm really busy these days so I don't have a whole lot of time. Plus I have extreme writer's block! AND I found out SOMEONE'S been reading the fanfiction files on my computer. This _person _doesn't like Naruto, or any anime for that matter, but this _person _reads my stories that I don't even put up so that they can make fun of it in front of all my friends. Grrrrrrr. But don't despair! It shouldn't take longer than about three weeks! I won't abandon you guys!

Oh yeah, if anyone didn't get what the 'something soft' was, that was Neji kissing her forehead. Huzzah! Romantic clichés! Lalalalalalala

_Roses are red,_

_Violets are blue,_

_I gave you a story,_

_now give a review!_

Love from Cwin!


	6. Old Friends, New Love

Happy December everyone! It's the sixth chapter already! Sorry for the kinda long wait guys... I've been having bad writers block for while. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter 'cause I'm looking to get lotsa reviews. (I'm a little review whore) It's the longest chapter yet, so I hope you like it.

I love you guys so much for the reviews of the last chap. I wish I could reply to you all personally, but I think that would annoy everyone because it would take forever to get to the story! Still, I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart – even the ones who don't review (for shame). Time for me to acknowledge my reviewers... whom I love! This chapter is dedicated to all of you guys: **pikaperfect101, B.Q., Matahari, tenjichan, writer4ever14(Hurray for sharing my pain!), Gina Ichimaru's girl, katira888, Ottpop, Dark Flame Pheonix, Unices, 10join-Fei, BitterLife (Oh dear, my story keeps affecting your health), XxSorenxX (Lovely bit of rhyming there)**

**Merciless Ruby –** Yeah, he only really likes Sakura, the rest are just there for him, or someone visiting to 'use'. (I'm such a mean person) Also, since most of them were gifts, he can sell them and make money for himself too.

I regret to inform everyone that the 'Why is Hinata a slave' thing won't be explained until chapter seven. Although there will be quite a bit of hostility in this chapter about it. I dunno, a lot of crap goes on in this chapter, including some good news for other characters! Ooops! Did I give away too much?

Oh yeah, just so people don't get confused, in my story the Uchiha massacre didn't happen, but Itachi is still secretly a member of Akatsuki. Why? Because I said so. That's all, now read my pretties!

* * *

"_...Neji is... my cousin. He's part of the family that betrayed me."_

**Chapter 6**

No one said anything for a while, Tenten knew that she should at least make a comment of some sort.

"Uh..." Was all the brunette could offer.

"Are you **serious**?!" Ino blurted out. The other girls crowded around the indigo-haired slave, giving her words of comfort. All except Tenten. She sat there on the ground, unable to speak.

She had been in shock at first. Hinata... came from a rich family? Her friend wasn't really like her? And why would a clan as wealthy and influencial as the Hyuuga need to sell their daughter?

Then she was angry. Neji had not only lied to her, but had been a hand in making Hinata's life miserable. Sure, that had gained Tenten her only real friend, but that did not condone making an innocent girl into a slave.

Her throat felt oddly tight, and it was as though she had a lead weight on her chest. For a while she just stared, half-listening to the conversation before her. So many more things were making sense to her now. Of course the two had been related, it was so obvious.

Part of her still didn't want to believe it. She thought of how kind Neji had been to her since he had arrived. He had been so understanding, and even shocked when she told him her story, and had never seemed to be partial to the idea of slaves. If that was all true, it couldn't be possible that he had intentionally enslaved Hinata... could it? Perhaps he had changed for the better, and was here to free her friend and make everything fine again, but then... what did that make her? Had all this been a ploy to lure her into his bed without force. She didn't want to think that. Her heart was tying itself in knots.

Unable to take it any longer, the girl stood, an emotionless look on her face.

"Tenten..." Hinata whispered.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you. I'm going back inside now." She began to walk away. One of the guards chased after her, so he could make sure she didn't do anything funny.

Her mind was blurry, and she couldn't think straight. The girl's feet moved forward by relfex, taking her inside and navigating for her a clear path to the staircase, and into the hotel-esque hall. She didn't even notice until she was in front of her bedroom door. After being let in, she strode across the room and sat on the edge of the bed. Then she did something she hadn't done in a very long time...

She lay down on her bed and cried.

* * *

After a while Tenten calmed down, telling herself she was being ridiculous. A guy had never, and should never make her feel like this. She wasn't about to let him being a jerk make her miserable, but she'd be damned if she didn't give that man a piece of her mind. 

However, seeing him right now was probably not a very good idea. Still, she was restless, and settled on leaving her room to go stand on the landing, watching life on the first floor. It had become a frequent passtime nowadays, since she had officially been cut off from leaving the manor alone. After about forty-five seconds of blank staring, something interesting happened.

"WHAT? I wouldn't do that! I wouldn't touch her unless she wanted me to! You're sick, man!" Loud footsteps echoed through the empty hall, and suddenly that annoying blonde kid stormed into view. He was quickly followed by her master, who was holding Hinata by the rope around her hands. Tenten gripped the railing a little harder.

"Oh come on, Naruto" The dark haired man called after him. Oh, so that was his name. "You're only refusing so you can act like you're better than me. Trying to seem like you're above taking a slave for the night, I know you better." Suddenly, the blonde flashed a giant grin.

"You're just jealous of me because I'm going to become hokage, and you're stuck outside the village in a manor that belongs to your _father._" Wait a minute... this obnoxious Naruto kid was the one in line to be hokage of the leaf village? They certainly had lowered their standards. "Not to mention you're delusional! You think this stuff belongs to you! You think you _own _those girls!"

" I do own them!" Her master's yelling now somewhat reminicient of a frustrated child. " They are my property, and I can choose to rent them out if I wish!"

"_Rent them out?! _You can't own a person, and you certainly can't just lease them like an apartment. I would never pay money for a person to love me. I don't care if no one else has a problem with it. I. DO." The brunette felt adrmiration for this man, perhaps he was more suited to be hokage than she thought.

"Whatever, do what you want." The black-eyed man turned on his heel, tossing Hinata's rope to Naruto, who let it fall to the ground. After a moment of glaring, the blonde reached for the girl's wrists, untying her bonds. Just when Tenten thought the show was over, another voice shouted,

"WHAT THE **HELL** ARE YOU DOING?!" The dog-like boy rushed into the hall as well, just ahead of his massive pet.

"Agh! It's not what you think!" Naruto quickly rushed through an exaggerated explaination, but the girl didn't get to hear all of it because she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning quickly, she found herslef staring into endless white eyes. Tenten froze, her eyes wide, unable to think of what to do next.

"You missed training. I was worried so I came to find you. Where were you?" Neji watched her, concern mixed with anger clear on his face. Suddenly, her wide brown eyes turned cold. Without a word, she shook off his hand, brushing right past him in an unknown direction. The long-haired man didn't know what to do.

_What was that all about? She was just fine with me yesterday... maybe it's that time of the month?

* * *

_

Days passed and Tenten's attitde towards Neji did not change. She remained icy to him, rather reflecting the weather outside, as they were now on the very edge of winter. Freezing winds often blew in through her tiny window, raising goosebumps on her skin, and forcing her to stay awake. More than once she opted to sleep in the hall since it was slightly warmer there.

The good thing about the temperature was that it gave her an excuse not to go outside. She knew that if she did all that would happen would be a relentless stream of questions, all of which she did not care to answer.

One day, about five days since the slave found out the truth about Neji, she sat alone in her room as usual. The chill air was blowing in strong, only magnified by the small space it had to push through. The thin blanket she had been provided with did little to shield her from the bitter cold. It was probably less miserable outside her room. After days of leaving only when she was sure all were sleeping, the girl got up and exited her room.

On her way out the door, Tenten heard a crackling noise, and felt something through her worn slipper. Looking down, she saw a piece of paper on the ground, asking her to pick it up.

'That's strange... The need for notes was eliminated...' Nonetheless, the girl unfolded the light green paper, confirming there really was a message inside. She glanced at the guard, who it seemed had yet to notice she had left her room. Holding it closer to her nose, she found the note truly was adressed to her.

_Ten, (I __**can**_ _call you that, right?)_

_In case you haven't noticed yet, it's Temari. I haven't told this to the other girls yet. I might've told you but you haven't been showing up to talk to __us lately. What's up with that?_

_Anyway, I don't think it would have been safe to say this in front of the guards anyway. But it's very important. I might not tell anyone else, but I couldn't go without __**someone **__knowing._

'Get to the point already.' Tenten laughed in her mind.

_Okay, I think I've left you in suspense long enough, __so here's the big news._

_I'm being freed!_

_When Shikamaru took me to his room a week ago, I sure showed him who wears the pants. After that he gained __a kind of respect for me. I dunno._

_Three days ago he visited me again. He told me that he would buy me off the master. (Since that's the only way __out). _

_Still, that's not all. After we're far away from here he's __going to free me. _

_Tenten... _

_He wants to marry me!_

_I've never felt this way before. Sure, I can't stand the guy he's rude and lazy and sexist, but I can't wait to be with him. Maybe it's because I want to turn him around. Whatever it is, I feel so girly right now – is that a bad __thing?_

_Please come out and talk to me tomorrow! I want to hear __from you!_

_- Temari ... Nara...?_

Wow, Temari found love, even if he was a jerk. If only things were that easy for the brunette girl. Quickly folding the paper back up and tucking it into a fold of her robe, she stiffly walked out onto the landing, a bright smile fixed on her features. She was so happy for her friend, and she _would _go see her tomorrow. It was the nice thing to do after all.

The slave slid her hand along the guard railing as she toed along. She noticed Naruto and the Inuzaka kid arguing in the main hall again. Tenten watched in amusement, this time her show went uninterupted.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I never laid a hand on her!"

"Excuse me for getting suspicious when you have a fricken' rope tied around her hands!" The big dog was growling. The wild looking boy appeared frighteningly like his canine companion. The girl suddenly felt very daring, leaning over a bit, she cupped one hand around her mouth.

"I can testify for Na- I mean him." Tenten pointed to the blonde with her free hand. " I saw them, and Hin- er... she would tell me if he tried anything. I'm her best friend." She left out that she hadn't spoken to Hinata since they had been fighting about it.

Before they could ask anything she drifted off into a shadowed hallway.

"What the hell was that?"

"See! _She_ said that I'm innocent!"

"That doesn't prove anything, you dolt!"

A wicked grin spread on Tenten's face as she made a sharp turn, her stomach informing her it was time to hit the snack cupboard before it was too late. The sun was already going down, so she would have to hurry.

* * *

The previous night she had gone to bed very satisfied, even carrying some snacks with her to stash in her room. That morning a servant came to each room, providing them with a slightly thicker robe, more appropriate to the rapidly-approaching winter. 

Now she walked alongside Ino, as the five girls were walked out and down to the courtyard. Each took their usual spot, and conversation began. Tenten shuffled over to Temari, and began to speak in a low voice.

"Married, eh? Woah, that's really amazing! I'm so happy for you!" The dirty blonde grinned from ear to ear. She then called to the other blonde girl across from her.

"Hey, Shika- I mean Mr. Nara said he has someone he wants you to meet. He's buying me, you could come too! He says there's this guy you should talk to. Aka... Aki... Ch- Cho... Cho... something anyway." Ino perked up.

"Oh, really? He sounds cool, is he cute?" She was right in Temari's face now.

"Um... I don't really know, and I doubt Sh- Mr. Nara would like to answer that, but he said that this guy would _love _you."

"Hmm... I'll think about it." You could clearly tell that the violet-clad girl had already made up her mind on this.

"Th-those visitors are s-surprisingly k-kind." Hinata commented. "N-Naruto Uzumaki and K-Kiba I-Inuzaka have been very n-nice to me, b-but they fight a l-lot. They're b-both very f-fine people." Sakura jumped on her leaning over her shoulder.

"Does Hinata have a crush on someone?!" She squealed, hugging the shy girl from behind. The indigo-haired teen blushed an impossibly deep shade of red, quickly assuring them that wasn't what she meant. After that she said nothing more on the subject.

Temari was getting married, Ino was going to meet this supposedly great guy, Sakura already had the master, Hinata had _two_ guys out for her. What did she have? Nothing. The thought was depressing. Tenten remained silent for the rest of the hour, just watching them talk, wondering what was left for her. The only guy she might have felt something for was a terrible person. Life isn't fair. She was beginning to wonder what there was left to make her happy.

But she wasn't about to start wallowing in self-pity like the weak-mannered girl she vowed not to be all those years ago.

Eventually their time was up and the five girls were herded into the manor again. For no reason the brunette began to hum a tune. She didn't even know what it was, she was basically just making it up as she went along. Then something unexpected happened, the other girls began to hum as well, each to their own tune. By the time they were accending the back steps they were all humming the name note of an unknown song.

Soon all the slaves were smiling broadly, sharing a nonsensical enjoyment, Temari even started to dance a little bit as their song picked up speed. Sakura and Ino were giggling up near the front. Even Hinata seemed to be thouroughly enjoying herself. Tenten could not stop her grin from getting bigger watching this silly activity. She felt a sort of carefreeness that she had not felt in a long time, it was as though a large weigth had been suddenly lifted off her shoulders. The guards looked perplexed but did nothing.

Once inside they were directed to go straight upstairs to their rooms, a rule that was never very adimently inforced. The other four, still laughing and humming merrily made their way back to their chambers. Tenten however was feeling either careless or rebellious, so she continuted on walking past the staircase to the second floor.

She added several new verses to the song, a spring in her step as she aimlessly glided around the entrance hall. She did several little turns to a silly little dance.

_Feeling this good deserves a trip to my favourite place._ The brown-eyed girl decided. Now on track, she still had a sort of floaty arua in her steps. Tenten tried to remember the way Neji had taken her last time. For once she didn't even feel sour at the thought of him. It was like she couldn't care less of the time being. Seeing a familiar door, she opened it, finding a set of stairs that would lead her to the basement.

Everything she saw around her as she strode along the carpeted floor was falling into place with her memory. At last she reached the dragon door. The brunette quickly grabbed the handle, expecting to feel the glorious sting of metal gleam in her eyes, but the door snapped shut before she could.

Looking up, her mirth shrivelled and died in a second. Neji.

Unwilling of her, a blush creeped onto her cheeks, and her chest constricted awkwardly.

Somehow looking into his eyes was like staring at death, or straight up the barrel of a gun. Tenten could feel his anger raditating as they stood that way for a while. She turned to run away, but he caught both her wrists behind her back.

"If you're going to be so angry with me, you could at least decide to be angry all the time, instead of being so damned confusing." The Hyuuga breathed in her ear. She shivered a little, cursing her body repeatedly for responding to him. "And you can't just evade me."

In this undignified manner, Neji walked the slave upstairs to where the lighting was a bit better. Now in better view he glared a her.

"So what has you so pissed at me?" He questioned.

"You know godamn well why I'm angry, Hyuuga." She snapped fiercely at him.

"If I did I wouldn't be asking. Are you brain dead or something?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you, genius? This is about you and your stupid family selling my best friend into slavery."

"What? But I-" He was cut off by a loud coughing. Four eyes turned towards the source of the sound. It was her master, carrying some sort of black and green mass in his left hand. It took about five seconds for Tenten to realize it was a person.

"Not to... interupt.. whatever is going on here, but I have a question to ask you... not you Hyuuga. This has nothing to do with you, but this issue has to be resolved." He looked at the girl, holding the person by the collar, though his head was still hanging.

" You said something about being involved with a servant a couple weekes ago. This one seems to fit your decription. Is this him?" The limp head suddenly looked up, Tenten recognized him immediately.

"Lee?!" She exclaimed.

_Flashback_

_A tiny girl sat in between the trees, almost hidden, but the blue garment clothing her gave her away. She looked about six years old. Her hair was a dark brown, too short to put in any style. It was rather badly cut, as though it had been cut with a knife several times. Which was more likely than not, given there was a kunai stuck in the ground right beside her._

_Her thin fingers were wrapped around the links of a wire fence. She didn't move, although dried tears of shame itched at her face. The girl stared straight ahead into the grounds. That was where the ninjas trained. _

_Her eyes were fixed on one of the new chunnin kunoichi. Her graceful leaps and kicks were awe inspiring. It was a wonder she could fight in that short blue skirt, and with such long black hair. The child had never met this ninja, but she still came back to watch her day after day. She didn't even know the older girl's name, but she was her role model. She had taken down her male teammates countless times, proving girls could be just as strong as boys._

_The brunette's little hands gripped the fence harder, wishing she could go though and be part of that. Fresh tears began to gather in her eyes, spilling down her face unchecked. Her little sobs went unheard by the training shinobi._

"_Why are you crying?" A voice asked. Tenten looked up._

" _'Cause I'll never be strong like them. I'm just a little _girl_, I can't be a ninja. My mom and dad hate that I'm a girl, and I don't even have any special abilities. What's the point?" She could tell it was a boy speaking to her._

"_Well who said that's any reason not to be a ninja? Lots of ninjas have something they can't do. Like me. I've been training since I could walk, but I'll never learn ninjutsu or genjutsu." Black eyes, and slightly messy black hair she noticed. Wiping her nose, the girl spun around to sit cross-legged on the grass._

"_But... but... I thought you had to be good at all three types to be a ninja..." The small boy grinned._

"_That's what everyone says, but I'm gonna prove them wrong! And you should too." Tenten stood along with him._

"_Okay! I will!" She felt inspired. The boy held out his hand to her._

"_I'm Rock Lee! Do you want to be friends?" The brown-haired girl nodded enthusiastically. She'd never had a friend before!_

"_My name's Tenten. You wanna go train? We need to train all the time if we want to be ninjas!" She took the hand he held out to her, and the two of them walked towards the targets in the forest._

"_You know, " Lee looked unexpectedly thoughtful, " I think you should grow your hair longer. Then people will know you're a girl, and be more impressed, right? Plus it doesn't look very good. You'd be cuter if it was long" The six-year-olds laughed together, and Tenten agreed to keep growing her hair._

_Since then, they trained together, and whenever Tenten was having trouble, Rock Lee was right there to be a friend._

_End Flashback (Was that not__** touching,**__ children?)_

Right after her outburst, Tenten slapped her hands over her mouth. Bad, very bad.

"Ah so you do know him. Well, I suppose proper punishment should be arranged." For the first time, Lee spoke up.

"Forgive me, sir, but let me take the punishment for both of us!" He still had the same strong voice. The brunette made a noise of protest.

"Very well, I'm too busy to figure out who gets punished how." Tenten jumped in front of Lee, though it wasn't very effective since she was far shorter than him.

" M-Master. This is not the servant I was speaking of. I simply know his name, we may have met once or twice." She lied, keeping her head bowed so she wouldn't get in more trouble than she already was in. The man rubbed his temples in frustration.

" Fine. Whatever. You up to your room." He pointed at Tenten. "And you back to your duties." Pointing at Lee. "Hyuuga, we must speak about your family's business agreement _now_. Come with me." Normally Neji would have made an excuse, but this new information was too distracting. The girl looked up just as he was turning. Was it a trick of the light, or did she see a trace of hurt in his eyes just then?

Whatever it had been, it was gone in a second as he turned his back on the pair, following the Uchiha out of the room. Her anger temporarily forgotten, Tenten stretched her hand out to him, but Lee grabbed her arm, shaking his head. The slave let her arm drop back to her side.

"I should go back to my duties." Lee sighed, and began to leave as well.

"Wait!" She yelled after him, he looked around at her, there was a confused and pleading look in her eyes. " Stay with me." The black-haired man thought for a moment, then nodded, grinning.

"I suppose you must have some questions for me. Come, we can go to the servant's quarters, less likely to be disturbed." It sounded kind of bad, but Tenten knew her friend had no ill intentions towards her.

Together they went across the entrance hall, around behind one of the staircases, and down a flight of stairs. The servants quarters we're far larger than hers, then again, each had to fit about twenty people in them. What did her master _use _all those servants for anyway? The walls and floors were all stone grey, many bunkbeds lined the walls. A handful of night servants snoozed in their bunks.

Lee lead the girl over to his bed, thankfully a bottom bunk. The two sat down next to each other, smiling faintly as they remembered each other. Tenten turned to the boy, a serious look in her eyes.

" Lee, I want to know. Why are you here?" He looked like he'd been dreading that question. He turned his gaze of the floor, still smiling a little.

"I followed you."

_Flashback (Yes, again)_

_The girl and boy, now about two years older, sat together on the grass, panting hard. The girl's arms were draped over the side of a fountain, her fingertips skimming the water. They had just been training hard for their little bodies._

"_Let's call it a day Lee, the sun's going down." Tenten panted. Her hair now touched her shoulders, and she had grown taller._

"_I could still go another hundred push ups, but okay." The boy smilied, standing up. He stretched out his hand to her, she took it, allowing herself to be helped up. They looked over to where the ninja were still training._

" _Tomorrow is the new genin graduation. Do you want to go watch them as they come out wearing their headbands?" Lee asked. _

"_Yeah! You'll see, one day I'll be wearing a headband just like them!" The girl cried, jabbing her forehead with her thumb. Lee struck his dramatic pose. The two walked with each other along a dirt path, then took seperate roads, waving one last time before heading home._

_The next day came, and Lee was waiting by the fence where they were supposed to meet. Tenten hadn't shown up. He was beginning to wonder what was keeping her. After a while he decided to go look for her. Standing and brushing off his knees, he began his trip to the poorest neighbourhood in the village. Once out of the forest he found himself on a dirt road. There seemed to be a great commotion going on._

_A lot of expensive-looking cars and carraiges were parked all along the largest road. There was a man standing out front shouting something. Lee made his way through the crowd up to the front. There was a lot of satisfied looking adults standing around. Two iddentical boys that looked about seven years old were being hoisted into a shabby cart near the end._

"_Is that all the able bodied children here? Anyone else? We pay well!" No one answered. The man turned and began to close the door of his carraige._

"_Wait!" The door opened again, " I have one more!"_

_There was a loud string of high-pitched screams as the one who had shouted dragged a flailing body to the front of the grinning crowd, a girl. Lee suddenly recognized her. Her dress was a bit cleaner than usual, her hair was up in a style he'd never seen on her before, two buns up on top of her head. She was kicking and screaming for all she was worth. Her father slapped her hard across the face, effectively ceasing her struggling._

"_Girl, eight years old, no diseases, energetic..." The rest Lee couldn't hear. The man started to examine his friend._

"_Pretty scrawny, but put her in anyway, we'll make use of her." Tenten's father handed the girl to some of the men standing around, and was given a handful of gold coins. Lee's blood boiled. That was all? Not only had the man just sold them his only child and daughter, but all he got for her was a few measly coins. Is that all they figured she was worth?_

"_Tenten!" He screamed, no one seemed to notice, but the brunette girl's ears perked to the sound. She angled her head so she could search the crowd. Their eyes met and his one and only friend gave him a sad, regretful smile._

_A smile that meant they would never see each other again._

_A smile of parting._

"_TENTEN!" The girl tried to look again but a man held her now. She began to kick, swing, and wriggle in an attempt to free herself. It looked as though the single man that carried her would drop the child, but another grabbed her opposite side. Together, the two men hauled her over the side of the cart, screaming and fighting all the way. Once inside the cart, Tenten tried to search for Lee, but the walls of the cart were too high to see over. She slipped to her knees, then fell over sideways._

_The caravan began to move with surprising speed. Lee yelled for her, and shouted at the thinning crowd for selling their children without care. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He began to run after the cart in which his friend was being held prisoner. His legs pumped as hard as they could, but the wagon just seemed to keep gaining momentum._

"_TENTEN! TENTEN! TEN... ten..." They were now beyond his reach. Without any concern for what might happen to him, Lee sat down inside one of their tracks in the mud, and cried for longer than he ever had or ever would in his entire life. _

" _I'll find you again, I swear."_

_End flashback_

" I trained for a few more years then I found a job serving the man you had been sold to, but when I got there I learned that you had been sold a couple years before, this time to Master Uchiha." Lee looked a bit angry, " Then one day I was in the marketplace and I heard he was looking for more servants. I took the job without bothering to quit the one I had. Now I've been serving here for two years, waiting until I could see you again. It is so good to find you after all this time!"

The boy embraced her, and she hugged one arm back. Tenten knew at one point in their childhood's Lee had a crush on her, but now it was purely friendship. She felt so happy.

"I hope I get to see you often." The brunette smiled brightly.

After a moment's conversation, the servants around them began to wake up. They decided to head upstairs. The girl had intended on just wandering around a little, but Lee insisted that she show him her room. She told him it wasn't much, but he wanted to go anyway. So they walked to the second floor. When the guard wanted to now what Lee was doing there, he said he was cleaning.

As soon as they were in the door, the black-haired boy was looking all around the room. Just out of curiosity, the girl stuck out her foot. He didn't notice and tripped right over it and almost into the wall.

"Hah! You're out of practice!" She grinned wolfishly.

"Not quite." In her triumph she did notice his hand shoot out and grab her ankle. Tenten fell hard on the ground. She didn't think she'd ever felt closer to laughing. Lee was giggling like a maniac.

After his laughter had subsided, the two shared a companionable silence.

CRASH!

The two snapped their heads up, hearing the sound from the floor above. It was quickly followed by shouting voices, thumps of hurried feet, and more crashes.

A pause...

Then the sharp, clear sound of a window breaking.

* * *

ANOTHER CLIFF-HANGER-TYPE-DEALIE. They are TOO fun 

Just to clarify, this is not, I repeat **NOT** turning into a LeeTen story. The title is "New Love" because of all the other girls, so don't make the assumption that I'm going to be a meanface like that. These chapters are being very mood swing-y - please don't be mad at me! After this you're not gonna see a whole lot of Lee anymore. He'll just sorta... fade out... And you to letcha'll know, I don't actually support InoChouji... but I had to give her a pairing just temporarily as a plot device to add to Tenten's little "Everyone's love but me" thing. So yeah, that's not going to really matter at all anyway.

I hope no one minds me adding little stories from my personal life down here. I really love telling stories about what happens to me as many times as I can.If it bothers you, or you really just don't care to hear about it, please tell me and I'll stop.

This chapter stuff is way fun, especially reading my reviews. I like the ones where you tell me something you liked, though they're all really important to me – even critisisms. 12 reviews on the first chapter, 17 on the second, 16 on the third, 20 on the fourth, and 15 on the fifth. Ooooh 80 reviews already! I could reach 100 by the next chapter if I'm lucky. Tell ya what, if everyone can leave me a review, and we get to 100 reviews (holy crap!) then I'll let you guys choose on something that will happen in chapter seven... well I guess in chapter eight. Hurray! No one knows what I'm talking about!

So send in your reviews people!

-Cwin


	7. The Truth

Happy holidays everyone! "Merry Christmas" would be politically incorrect 'cause I don't know how many of my readers actually celebrate it. If you do.. Merry Christmas! And if you want this as a present, wait three days and stick a gift tag to your computer screen that says: To: (your name) From: Cwin.

Anywhoot, we didn't quite make it to 100 reviews just yet – but we're so close! This chapter is henceforth dedicated to those lovely, lovely people who reviewed and not only helped, but cheered me on too! I feel so loved! **Sallyluv16, Nara Temari, XxSorenxX, Merciless Ruby, Trelunas, 10Join-Fei, tenjichan, Dark Flame Pheonix (Shhhhh, don't tell anybody, but I like HinaKiba best too), Gina Ichimaru's girl (yay! That was nice!), Unices, Bitterlife (Sorry), lehcar-light, LetUrSqueeFlow, jrjensen (Good point, I must fit pie **_**somewhere**_** -ponders-), Ottpop, aaaaaaaand pikaperfect101.**

People are getting more and more creative with their reviews! Three cheers for you all! Hip-hip --! -silence- ... well... give yourselves a pat on the back anyway!

Mwahahaha! Everything shall become clear concerning the Hyuuga family in this chapter! And you're gonna be piiiiiissed! Let us create an angry mob and set fire to all the mean members of the main family! Who's with me! -silence- Well too bad, because I'm instituting conscription as of right now! And also I'm am going to be TOTAL jerk to Tenten for a little while during this chapter! But it's for fluff purposes only, so please do not stab me to death for it!

Three... Two... One...

COMMENCE CRAPPY FIGHT SCENE!!!

* * *

_CRASH!_

_The two snapped their heads up, hearing the sound from the floor above. It was quickly followed by shouting voices, thumps of hurried feet, and more crashes._

_A pause..._

_Then the clear, sharp sound of a window breaking._

**Chapter 7**

The pair jumped about three feet in the air, leaping off the floor at the same time. Tenten tore out of the room, with Lee following just behind. There was a large window just outside the slaves' rooms, but she didn't stop there. She ran down the stairs, three at a time, and straight out of the house.

One window of her master's study was shattered, and a body was falling slowly in an arc. Tenten had about .2 of a second to figure out what was going on. Forcing her legs to their fastest, she jumped in the way, the person falling on top of her. It drove them painfully into the ground, but may have just saved the person's life. That is if they were still alive when they fell. A shaky groan confirmed they were still living.

Tenten looked down, but was not prepared to see Neji Hyuuga in her arms. His face was badly bruised and bloody. Almost everyone who was working or staying in the mansion was now outside watching the scene unfold. This included all of the slave girls.

"N-Neji? What's going on?" He opened his mouth to answer, but was silenced by another shout of his name. Looking up, Tenten saw her master in the empty windowframe. In one swift movement, he jumped from the ledge, landing gracefully in the ground. The man ran towards them, his eyes glowing scarlet.

"YOU LIAR!" Sasuke shouted at the man in her arms. "Get off of him." his words were so low and hissed they might have been poisonous. The slave was frozen, unable to let go even if she wanted to. She didn't want to though, her master had a killing intent.

He grasped her shoulder tightly, so it felt like it would snap. Quickly he tossed her to the side, eliminating anything possibly protecting his opponent. The girl hit the ground about twenty feet away, rolling and tossing. At last she slid to a stop, spitting clumps of dirt and grass from her mouth. Every part of her ached from being bashed around on the floor. She looked up, eyes a little unfocused since her head was in splitting pain. She moved to rest on her arms, but her right arm didn't want to cooperate. Again she attempted to lift it, and burning pain shot through her body. Now that she thought of it, she did remember landing on the arm first.

Using her other arm, Tenten propped herself up in time to see two blurs bouncing around the courtyard, hitting each other, then bouncing back. Neji slowed and stopped on top of the roof. It was pretty far, and she still wasn't completely focused, but something looked different about him. She didn't have much time to contemplate this as Sasuke landed on the roof as well.

Sasuke was performing handsigns faster than Tenten could remember them. He ran towards Neji, but a well aimed jab to the chest sent him flying back, skidding along the roof and sending a shower of tiles. The Uchiha started the handsigns again, jumping into the air for attack. Again, Neji was to quick for him, disappearing from sight, then appearing again just to his left. Before Sasuke could turn, the long haired man kicked him in the stomach. Which made him spin and fly out of sight. There was a deafening crash and many loud shrieks as Sasuke fell through the glass roof. A cascade of a billion shattered pieces fell to the ground, some even spilling out the door.

The Hyuuga followed immediately after, still attacking the falling man with chakra enhanced jabs on various body parts. As Sasuke's body hit the ground, the other man leaped off him to avoid contact with the glass shards. Her master jumped back to his feet at once, finally getting a hit on Neji, which sent him flying out the doors.

People were retreating to more safe places now, Tenten just lay there on the grass, watching. The pain in her arm was getting more demanding, now causing her whole right side to feel sort of numb and tingly.

The pair began attacking so fast it was impossible to tell who was hurting who and how. The fight somehow gravitated neared to the house, and Neji jumped to the roof again, landing with the sureness of a cat. Sasuke followed him. Both were now looking very beat up, but they were barely even breathing hard just yet.

Several things happened at once then, Tenten's pain suddenly increased tenfold, making her scream out loud. Hearing this, the Hyuuga turned, temporarily giving Sasuke the advantage. Within the same moment, the Uchiha caught him in his Sharingan. Tenten didn't understand what was happening. She saw Neji clutch his head in agony, then fall, sliding down the angled roof. She didn't see how this ended however, because the pain increased again, and blackness clouded over her vision.

* * *

_An eleven-year-old version of herself was washing dishes in a dirty sink. Her hands were red and aching from the scrubbing. She sighed, counting the seconds until she could go see __**him**_ _again. A hand on her shoulder woke her from her thoughts._

"_Your master wants to see you." growled a faceless voice._

_Without warning she was dropped into a bathtub naked, unknowing how or when her clothes had been shed. Many pairs of hands appeared from nowhere, scrubbing her hair and body. She crossed her arms over her small budding breasts, wishing all these people would just go away._

"_Have I done something wrong?" Tenten whimpered, "Is he going to punish me?"_

"_Not at all." The same disembodied voice spoke, " In fact, you could say it's the opposite." The voice laughed._

_The girl didn't understand, but didn't have much time to think as her head was pushed underwater to wash the shampoo out of her shoulder-length hair. In an instant she was pulled out, dripping and naked. She wanted to cry, but soon some merciful fate granted her with a towel. She was dried just as quickly as she'd been washed, then handed some new clothes to change into._

_Once in the garment, she looked around for help._

"_What am I supposed to do?" Another hand grabbed her forearm, dragging her through unlit hallways. She couldn't see or hear anything but steady foot falls echoing. She felt as though she were trapped in a tight box. Suddenly she faced a gigantic, imposing door. It seemed to stretch so it was looming over her._

" _Just go in, he'll tell you what to do." The door opened and Tenten was shoved in. There was her master, middle-aged, fat and balding._

"_Ah, I was wondering when you'd arrive." He chuckled, " I suppose you must be horribly lost, my child. Come, sit before me." She did as she was told._

"_Now, I've been watching you for a while. I think you're getting too old and... grown up..." his eyes wandered all over her body, "To be a girl slave, so... I'm going to make you... a woman slave."_

_She understood his meaning at once, jumping up and trying to run. She didn't get very far as several muscled guards held her. The girl thrashed and fought, managing to give one a bloody nose, but soon more came and held her down effectively._

"_No! No! No! Please!" She wailed, tears spilling from her eyes and down her face._

"_I am not an entirely heartless man, I can imagine you wouldn't want your first time with me. So I've arranged for my son..." It wasn't the one she trained with and loved, but his brother, who she knew to be five years older. _

_At once his son walked in, grasping her arm tightly. She cried harder._

"_Try not to knock her out or anything, son. I want my turn too." Oh god, this wasn't happening! This wasn't happening! She shut her eyes, waiting for everything to vanish._

"_Yes, father." There was a rustle of clothes, and the girl's own screaming filled her ears._

The darkness was gone, as were the men and guards. Tenten was back to her eighteen-year-old self, laying in an unfamiliar bed. White walls and celing surrounded her, and bright lights shone on her from above. The unnerving smell of complete sterilization filled her nose. Her clothes weren't the same either. Gone was her dirty ripped pink robe, replaced with unbearably white pants and t-shirt. She realized she must be in a hospital. The girl groaned, it had been years since she dreamt of that night seven years ago. Her pillow felt wet. Reaching up with her left arm, she found her face as wet too. She had been crying in her sleep.

"What were you dreaming about?"

"Huh?" Everything was coming into focus now.

"What were you dreaming about?" The voice repeated. Tenten looked over, seeing Neji laying on the bed next to her. Still a little dazed, she sat up. Her right arm was in a sling, it still ached dully. He looked in much worse shape. He was covered in bruises and bandages. It didn't seem to phase him, though.

"How did you know..."

"You were talking... and crying in your sleep. What happened?" Neji's voice was much more forceful now. Tenten looked at her right hand resting limply on her leg. She could guess what she must have been saying.

"I was remembering the night... when I was eleven." She muttered. He understood immediately. His fists clenching at his sides did not go unnoticed. He decided then to change the subject.

"Rock Lee was down here earlier." he said stiffly, " He explained to me how you two knew each other. I sort of jumped to conclusions from what everyone was saying."

"Oh, so you needed it _explained _for you?" Tenten grinned. " Don't tell me you were jealous!" His face pinkened slightly, and he looked the other way. A giddy feeling rose in her chest and she started to giggle. Wait a minute... she was laughing? Yes, she was! It was a great feeling to be able to laugh again after all this time.

_I-I wasn't jealous! _His mind protested _I mean, I was... I was... just... _He was suddenly distracted _Have I ever seen her laugh before? I guess I haven't. She's kind of... cute... when she laughs... no, make that beautiful... no make that... oh crap._

She kept giggling for a few minutes, until it began to hurt and she calmed down. Wiping her eyes, the girl couldn't keep the smile off her face.

Then she remembered that she was angry at him. Her supposedly permanent smile fell. Something was going on that she didn't understand, and she had a feeling that all the things at had been happening were somehow connected.

"Neji," Tenten began firmly, "Why were you fighting with Master?" The man sighed, he had been dreading this question.

She had been expecting the Hyuuga to be affronted by her asking, but instead he looked sort of depressed. Reaching up, he untied the head protector he wore. She realized that she had never seen him without it yet. Pulling it off, Tenten saw a strange mark on his forehead. He pointed to it.

"See this? It's the mark of a Hyuuga branch family member. If I were in the main family, none of this would have happened." She didn't really understand what that had to do with all of this, but she listened as he continued.

" The Hyuuga clan has a secret reputation of getting rid of those they don't need or who go against them. When I was ten, and Hinata was nine, they were observing her progress as a shinobi because she was supposed to be the successor of the clan. I couldn't inherit it because I belonged to the branch family. However, she was pretty meek, and not nearly as strong as they wanted her to be. She worked very hard, of course. Some nights I would find her passed out in the family dojo after hours of training. Still, they said she wasn't good enough to be a clan leader, even her little sister was more talented."

Wait a minute... Hinata had a sister? Man, these relations were confusing. Tenten was glad she was an only child with no living family outside her parents.

"So they sold her off. It was an extremely secret process, not even the people in my family knew about it. The information was only inside the main family. Obviously people began to wonder what had happened to her, but they were ready for that too. The adults made up this cock-and-bull story about her dying from illness, and that her final request had been to have a private funeral with just her immediate family."

"Those bastards..." The brunette girl growled. "So, if nobody ever knew about it, how did you find out?"

" It was her sister, Hanabi, who told me." Neji answered calmly, "She was four at the time it happened so she didn't really understand. She's twelve now and she has a habit of going through old family documents. She found Hinata's record and gave it to me, because she knew I was never completely satisfied with the answer they gave us. That was about six months ago...

"Naturally, I started searching for more information on her whereabouts. I went through a lot of old files and paper work, but it didn't tell me that much. Eventually I got caught, and it wasn't too hard for them to figure out what I was doing. I spoke out against what they had done, telling them they were inhuman. They gave me a warning to just forget about it, but I didn't. I tried to attack my uncle, the clan leader. He was furious, and so, just like Hinata, they kicked me out of the clan, and told everyone I had died on a mission."

So... it has been the opposite of what she thought? Tenten's knuckles were turning white as she gripped the bed with anger. Who did these people think they were, anyway?!

_I swear... if I ever get my hands on them I'll... I'll... Well I can't think of just what I'll do yet, but it'll be painful... and humiliating... and all that good stuff..._

"Again Hanabi saved me. She couldn't change her father's decision, but she gave me Hinata's location, and some money to survive on. So I came her, pretending I had some huge and profitable business deal to make. I thought I could stay and escape with Hinata before the news leaked all the way out here. It wasn't easy, though. I had to hide myself from Naruto and the others, because they already knew. Luckily they didn't say anything about it to him." Neji's frown deepened at mention of her master.

"I was going to take her and escape the first chance I could, but something stopped me..."

"What could possibly stop you from helping her?!" The girl demanded, ready to murder whatever it was.

"It was you." Oh... nevermind then.

"M-me? But why me?" She wasn't _that _important... was she?

" When I saw you... I don't know, but I knew I had to free you too. I've been to many places where they kept slaves, but I never felt the need to help one this much..."

Tenten's face went white briefly, then bright red. She tore her gaze from his face to the ground. Neji stood up, then limped over to her bed and sat back down. He placed his hand lightly on her shoulder.

"You could have made it easier, though. You'd just keep switching randomly from hate to... tolerance I guess. Also, I was unsure of how I felt. I was continuously denying that I wanted you for anything more than pleasure." His tone was noticeably apologetic. "Even when we were getting along, we were always in the wrong place. The first night I would have taken you away, but Hinata wasn't there, and it would have been rather suspicious, as well as creepy if I asked for my _cousin_ to come up with me for the night."

Tenten had to laugh at that. It was true, that would promote some strange ideas.

"Well, yesterday, I was so distracted by what was - or rather what wasn't - going on between you and Rock Lee that I forgot to make up an excuse not to talk to that Uchiha. Obviously, I couldn't keep pretending after that, so I just straight out told him. He was furious. He threw a lot of things at me, but when I dodged them he attacked me himself. I have to admit being thrown out the window caught me off-guard, and if you hadn't caught me, I would be in far worse condition than I am now."

" Still, you're going to be laid up in bed for a long time, and I'll have to trudge around this stupid broken arm for a few weeks." She sighed angrily.

"No, they've called for Tsunade, she's the best medic nin out there, and she'll heal us so we'll be back up in a couple hours, since neither of us have particularly life-threatening wounds. Normally they wouldn't get her, but I gave Uchiha some nice scars myself."

With her uninjured hand, Tenten brushed his shoulder. He didn't wince, but his face changed to a pained expression. She moved her hand, searching for a place with wouldn't hurt him. She found a spot on his back, and rested her forehead against it.

"Thank you." she muttered, her hands placed against him as well.

Neji smiled. Not a cocky grin or a mocking smirk, but a real, genuinely contented smile. He turned slightly, making her look up. The pearl-eyed man took hold of her shoulder, pulling her so she sat upright. He held her there, facing him. With one hand he reached up, tracing the left side of her face lightly. His other hand he placed on hers.

The Hyuuga drew in closer, and Tenten's breath caught in her throat. Time seemed to be slowing as he approached her.

Six inches away... Her eyes widened. She fought the urge to pull away.

Four inches... His hand had found it's way to her chin and was tilting her head up to meet him.

Three... Her heart was thumping in her ears. Was he really planning to kiss her? A little red flag that flew up telling her to be cautious of men went unnoticed.

Two... His milky eyes had closed. She could feel warm breath ghosting over her lips. The girl's wide eyes fluttered shut, and she tilted her head to the side to give better access...

One inch...

"_Honestly!_" The loud female voice just outside made them spring apart. Neji jumped up and limped back to his bed. Tenten frantically tried to come up with something she could look like she had been doing.

"Lady Tsunade! You shouldn't shout in hospitals!" A panicked younger voice scolded.

"C'mon Shizune, this isn't even a real hospital." The first woman groaned, " It's just another part of the Uchiha brat's estate. And it's not like there are dozens of sick people here, just two bashed up headaches."

"Don't say that, they can probably hear you!" The door opened.

"All the better." The first speaker laughed as she walked in. A very busty woman with low ponytails tied in her blonde hair. She emitted a very powerful and domineering energy. The woman looked over the boy who was busily retying his head band, and the girl who was apparently completely fascinated by an invisible mark on her hand.

_'Why did I do that?'_

Tsunade went immediately to Neji's bed and began healing him with her chakra. Tenten was so intrigued by the strange technique she hadn't noticed the other person come in. Suddenly there was a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see another woman, clearly younger than Tsunade. She had short black hair, and she didn't have the same aggressive feeling about her.

"Hmm," She studied Tenten's wound a while, then looked up at her face, " Are you sure you don't have a fever? You're face is badly flushed." Uh oh.

"Uh... uh... that's not it! I'm feeling fine, really! I've just got some bruises, and this arm." With her good hand she rubbed the back her neck sheepishly.

"Well, if your sure." The young woman's hands started to glow green, she was performing the same medical technique as her mentor.

"I can't believe they called me in for this." Tsunade grumbled without looking up from her work, " I really think I could have won that round!"

"Of course, Lady Tsunade." Tenten saw the woman roll her dark eyes, and she had to stifle a giggle. This laughing thing was certainly nice to feel again.

* * *

A few hours later Tenten was sent back to her room. She sat on her bed, flexing her arm and hand with a look of wonder on her face. Not only had she been healed of her sores and broken arm, when the brunette left the hospital, (which she was amazed to learn was still in the manor... not sure how the architecture of THAT worked out) she found that she had a tremendous amount of energy flowing through her body.

Her robe had been torn beyond repair, so it was replaced with a new winter dress. It was the same colour of pink but much more beautifully designed. This one was an actual dress. There was a sash to go around her waist, and two bands around each arm, that were a slightly darker pink. It reached to her mid calf with a small slit up each side. Underneath were a pair of soft pants, the same colour as the sash. Each slave was going to get the same style of dress soon (Courtesy of one Naruto Uzumaki).

Tenten stood, did a couple little turns on the spot, and stepped onto her bed. She folded her arms onto the cold concrete ledge of her tiny window and looked out to the horizon. The girl sighed softly. What did it look like there? What were the people like outside her dimly lit room?

A freezing wind blew through her window and onto her face. It made her shiver, but at the same time it felt nice; refreshing. Something white floated by, then another. Soon the whole sky was filled with soft white snow, drifting slowly down. Millions upon millions of tiny flakes lazily sought the ground without a trace of wind to stir them from for their steady decent, creating a sort of living Christmas card effect. Tenten closed her eyes, resting her head on her arms. It was so peaceful, she could stand and watch forever.

A sharp knock on the door made her jump, hitting her head off the top of the window. As she gently rubbed her aching skull, the door opened and Neji entered. The girl got off the bed, standing across from him.

"What happened?" She asked carefully. He had just been to a hearing deciding what would become of him. The way his white eyed avoided hers told her that it wasn't good.

"I'm allowed to stay here," Neji muttered, eyes still downcast, "But I have to work as a servant."

_That _was it?!

"B-but that's great! I mean, it could have been better, but at least you're not being punished for lying." She smiled. He chose took look up, glaring fiercely.

"No, it's not 'great'!" He half-yelled, "Not only I am going to demote myself to servant, but I'll have to work for _him._" She wanted to be offended by his oblivious insult towards servants and slaves, but found she couldn't due to the suddenly depressed look on his face. "And..."

"And...?"

"And, if I'm made into a servant... I might never see you again..."

Tenten clasped her hands over her mouth, a blush painting her whole face. She couldn't believe those words were coming from someone like him. But as shocking as that had been, she could never have been prepared for what he said next...

"So let's make tonight count."

Before she even had time to comprehend his words, he took the two steps across the room to where she stood. Taking her face in both hands, Neji roughly jammed his lips against hers. Her chestnut eyes opened wide as a sudden thrill shot up her spine, then slowly drifted shut. Without a second thought she slung her arms around his neck, pressing back with equal fervor. She could feel her cheeks flushing dangerously red, but didn't care. His hands left the side of her face, sliding down to her waist, and pulling her hips against his own. The kiss grew in intensity. It was as if both were trying to pour all the stress and worry of the past two months – the past ten years, into this one kiss.

The tall man gently caught her lower lip between his teeth, and she opened her mouth for him, moaning lightly. Immediately he slid his tongue in, hungrily tasting every corner he could reach. He knew exactly where and how to explore so that it did not feel awkward or sloppy. Perfectly memorized and smooth just like everything about him, yet with an uncharacteristic passion. Shyly, Tenen rubbed her tongue against his, thinking it was only fair to return the favour.

Really she had no idea what to do. She had never really been kissed before, except by some sleazy guys who thought they'd try to be romantic. Yeah, they got a knee in very painful place, but that was different. Those times she hadn't felt her heart race, or her face go a deep red. Those times she hadn't felt needed. Right now Neji needed her. All those times there hadn't been this heat.

The heat was overwhelming, surging throughout her body, touching the end of every finger and toe. The wild fire only grew larger as she clung to him with all her might, pressing her body flush against his. Her foggy brain had been long since wiped clean of any rational thought. Feeling was everything now. She needed that warmth as close as possible. More sure of herself now, she fought with his tongue for dominance.

His mouth left hers and started kissing down her neck. Her lungs thanked him for the much needed air. He continued around her jawline, following some invisible path. Something inside her twitched pleasantly. Pulling the dress off her shoulder slightly, he paused his decent to suck and nibble gently on the point where her neck and shoulders met. The girl whimpered and sighed, one hand now rested on his head, nearly petting the silky strands.

He pushed back so that she was against the wall. It felt so unbelievably good, her body pressed between his and the wall so tightly. A few red marks were already beginning to show as he trailed back up to lightly nip at her earlobe. Tenten gasped sharply as the needy feeling under her skin increased tenfold at that simple action. The cold couldn't touch them anymore, there was too much heat. The former weapon's mistress was reduced to a panting mass, as the Hyuuga continued his ministrations upon her sensitive flesh.

Neji captured her lips again, his hands sliding lower...

* * *

One floor above in a wrecked study, two men were talking. One sat at a partially splintered desk, the other stood next to him, looking figety and annoyed. The man at the desk was looking over files.

"You didn't have to come here." Sasuke told the other man with barely-concealed spite.

"You know how much I dislike being here, but it's father's order that I come and check up on you every so often. You haven't been doing very good, have you?" He indicated the ruined furniture and cracked walls.

"That only happened because of the Hyuuga runaway." the younger growled, eyes flashing dangerously.

The older of the two men closed a file containing a picture of a girl with four dirty blonde pigtails.

"No good." He opened the next, this one had an image of a pink-haired girl. He pointed at it, looking up at Sasuke with an emotionless expression, as if ordering at a restaurant. " Ah. This is the one I want." The younger flared up, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Not her! You can't have her!" he shouted, knocking the file out of the other's hands, sending in skidding across the desk and onto the floor.

"I have a right to be with any of your girls that I wish, don't forget. Most of them were gifts anyway, weren't they?"

"Not her!" Sasuke repeated, smashing his fists on the desk. "She's off-limits! Especially to you!" The man frowned.

"Alright, if you insist... let's see." he opened two more files, "Hmm... I don't like blondes, and this one looks like she'd be too loud anyway. This one looks too quiet. Certainly like to be diverse, don't you? I'm looking for one that's at least going to put up a fight." He picked up the last file. "This one will do."

"Fine." Sasuke collected the files in his arms, storming out of the room. The dark haired man finally stood, walking over to the unbroken window and looking out into the courtyard.

"Yes... this should be fun."

* * *

ITATEN WTF? Yeah I know, the pairing is messed up, but she's the main character in this story and well... Itachi's one of the biggest assholes in the show apart from Sasuke... so I just went with that. WARNING: The following chapters contain EXTREME CRACK.

And speaking of which...

DID THEY DO IT, OR DID THEY NOT? - **YOU** DECIDE. That's right. I would like a general vote on whether or not the public thinks that Neji and Tenten actually did it, or that they should only go as far as making out. Oh yeah, but, because I'm a chicken, if they poll comes out for the former, I won't actually be writing a lemon. Sorry peeps... maybe another time. So here's how it works...

If you think that they should go **all the way** – type "Neji wears a bananahammock" (I just LOVE that word) into a review, along with whatever you were planning to say.

OR, if you think that they should stop at just **making out – **do the same, except instead type "Neji wears a lacy bra."

Everyone got it? I would like those in by three days before my next update, which will be in a couple weeks, the exact date will be in my profile. And even if you don't vote – PLEASE review! I love yooooouu! And remember, always sing!

-Cwin


	8. Helpless

WHOOT! 100 reviews! (Well actually 121) Thank you everyone! I have some announcements to make for my beautiful Chapter 7 reviewers!

First, to **Unices** – My 100th reviewer! When I first saw that, I jumped up (which knocked the kitty out of my lap) and did a happy dance! Anyway, I couldn't really think of a prize, except that, though I have to dedicate this to all my reviewers, you are my #1! Also, even though the poles didn't turn out in your favour, you _were_ a lacy bra person... so... I'd like you to pick a design for Neji's lovely brassiere and submit it to me. Okay?

But... without #98 and #99 there would be no 100. **10Join-Fei **(Who is apparently a humorous, pyromaniacial, Spartan ShikaTem fan that dislikes Sakura. -puts down food dish- I'll see what I can do. Probably not much in this chapter, maybe in a couple more. And in answer to your question, yes Itachi is still Sasuke's brother. In my opinion, Itachi should be a bitch to everyone equally) and **Merciless Ruby **are both long-time reviewers and bananahammock people. I would like you two to give me some suggestions on Neji's equally lovely new bathing suit. Be creative, as long as it's as emasculating as humanly possible.

Last but not least, to my #101 - 121 reviewers – **Dark Flame Pheonix (Damn), Nara Temari, dragonkyuubi101, ShikaTema.rox.like.hell, Kunnochi Hyuuga Tenten, Blossoms of Spring, BitterLife, Lacey, Bitto (Four flippin' times! That's fantastic! So do you love it? Because I just didn't get that from your message.), sallyluv16, Trelunas, Gina Ichimaru's girl, Alquwende, lehcar-light (D'OH! I didn't realize I was doing that! I'll try to fix that in future chapters!), mizz-ten, VeRnAqUaY (I know what you mean, sorry), pikaperfect101, Torame **– you guys get to argue over NaruHina vs. KibaHina OR all three (my personal favourite... threesomes are nice x3) ... but since NaruHina has such an _obvious _popularity advantage, I'm giving KibaHina two and NaruHinaKiba three extra votes each. And I can do that, because it's my story – so HAH.

Poles stand as such for Neji's underpants – **Bras –** 7 **Bananahammocks –** 10... Closer than I though it would be... Like I said, there will be no actual lemon. I'm really, really sorry. I tried to write one, but it was crappy and I had to stop and giggle pretty much every other sentence. Please forgive me ( .

Read on anyway, even though this chapter sucks.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"Mmm..."

The soft sigh escaped her mouth before she even realized it. Tenten, still in a state of semi-consciousness, decidedly did not open her eyes. Even without use of them, she could easily analyze her situation. For starters, she was in her room, more specifically lying on her small bed. Also, she was rather cold in her front, indicating she wasn't adequately clothed, and her shoulders itched slightly, so her hair must have been down. The last and most obvious thing was that there was a body pressed against her back. A warm, sexy-smelling, well toned, and thoroughly _male _body pressed against her back.

The girl could tell he was awake as well. If not for his slightly uneven breathing and the tension in his chest, then for the hand lightly brushing across her exposed stomach. Perhaps that had been what had woken her up, or possibly the feeling of his soft breath on her cheek. Hair far longer than her own tickled her sides and back, just enough that it created a pleasant sort of tingle, and did not give her the urge to whine and wriggle away. No doubt the one against her was the white-eyed young Hyuuga, who, until yesterday afternoon, she had seen as the enemy.

Unconsciously, she snuggled her back just a fraction of an inch more into his chest. A cold winter wind blew in the tiny window, and freezing little fingers danced on her skin. Tenten shivered pitifully. Neji noticed this, hugging her as close as he could, he rubbed her bare arms and legs, trying to calm the goosebumps that had risen on the skin. She let out a barely audible moan of approval. He smirked as he recalled the tone from their actions the previous night.

Finally establishing their mutual knowledge of each other's consciousness, Neji muttered, "Good morning."

Tenten's front was feeling neglected, so she rolled over in his arms, feeling his body warmth instantly spread over her torso.

"Morning," She mumbled into his hard chest. Her slightly chilled hands rested against his stomach, his arms around her as she listened to his soft heartbeat. Their legs wound together in a comfortable way. Both wanted nothing more than to just lay here for as long as they could...

Just then frenzied knocking made them jump into a sitting position, arms springing apart, but their legs still entwined. Without waiting for an answer, Naruto came bursting in.

"NEJI! I just heard! You're alive! Y-..." He stopped abruptly upon seeing the two (practically naked) people on the bed, then a wicked grin spread across the blonde's face. "You_ dog_!"

Neji quickly held Tenten possessively, hiding anything indecent against his body, and away from peeping blue eyes. His pearl eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Naruto, you idiot, get out!" The boy's smile faded slightly.

"I wish I could man, believe me, but Sasuke's looking for you, and if he finds out in here, you'll be in a shitload of trouble." As moronic as Naruto was, he had a point. "I'll tell you what, though. I won't rush you. Get ready and whatever, and Neji you come outside when you're ready. I can wait. It would be bad for me to break up lovers suddenly."

Tenten turned her head to look at him, smiling.

"Naruto," She was addressing a guest informally, but she doubted that he would care, " Thank you."

"Aw, no problem. Just don't start doing it again while I'm waiting." Yup, he had to go and ruin his good image. Before the pair could throw various blunt objects at the blonde, he slipped back out into the hall.

Neji was the first to stand, grabbing the loose-fitting black pants he had been wearing off the floor. He quietly slipped them on as the slave girl stood as well. She stood with her back to him, somehow not able to do much more than stand at the time.

"I'm going to need that back, you know." The Hyuuga said jokingly. Tenten wondered what he meant, until she looked down, seeing herself wearing his open white shirt from the previous night.

"Oh, yeah... right." She choked.

The girl was started to slide garment off her shoulders, when two strong hands across them stopped her. The telltale blush instantly flooded her complexion at the firm touch, not to mention the image of the pale teen behind her in nothing but those black pants riding so teasingly low on his hips... Neji leaned down so his mouth was right next to her ear, and whispered so quietly that if there was a person a foot away, they wouldn't be able to hear.

"I'm afraid things haven't been going according to plan..." She was confused, what plan? "I'm afraid I've fallen in love with you."

Her eyes jumped open. Did he really mean that? More importantly... did she feel the same way? She had no idea what to say. Sure Tenten liked him a whole lot, but could she really say she loved him? She didn't know...

"Neji... I-"

"And..." with this the man wrapped his arms around her waist briefly, " I **will **free you." The sheer intensity of his voice seemed to make her heart stop.

Neji said nothing more, nor did he allow her to say anything. He silently pulled his shirt off of her arms, and slid it back on himself, doing it up in the front. Without looking back, he walked the to steps to her door, opening it and leaving her room. Tenten suddenly felt a cold that had nothing to do with the snow laying innocently on the ground outside.

It was at that precise moment, Tenten realized fully she was decidedly without any form of clothing. She jumped up, searching for her dress. Eventually she found it under a sheet in the corner of the room. She put it back on, and sat down on her bed, still warm from their bodies laying together.

Outside, Neji walked beside Naruto, out of the slave chambers and downstairs, to where the servants stayed. This would really take some getting used to. Naruto looked at the dark haired man sympathetically. Neji did want to see that look, so he avoided eye contact. The blonde's face turned surprisingly serious.

"She really _is_ beautiful, isn't she?" Neji was in shock. Did the loudmouth idiot he knew just say that?

"...Yeah. She is." His last words were spoken with more confidence.

"You know you can't have her anymore. That was the last time." Naruto's voice was stern. Neji sighed.

"I know..." He hated how distant and defeated he sounded. Then something tweaked his mind. "I'm going to free her, and myself. Would you help me?"

"Sure I will! We're friends, aren't we?" ...That was... debatable " Besides, if I'm going to be Hokage someday, it's my job to help protect all citizens of Konoha, even the former ones! Plus it would be a great way to piss off Sasuke!" Neji smirked.

" I have to admit, you've surprised me, Naruto. Maybe you really can be Hokage."

"Did Neji Hyuuga just compliment me? I'm honoured." Naruto laughed sarcastically "Now... about your cousin..."

* * *

Tenten sat delicately on her bed, playing with her brunette locks. A smile was plastered on her face. Every time she thought of him, her whole body would tingle, and the warmth of his lips and body against hers would come back.

_'I wonder... why did I do that? I mean... he's really good looking (and __**sooo**__ good with his hands, might I add) but... do I love him? I've never felt quite like this before... it's like...my chest is so tight... I can't even breathe... but I don't want the feeling to stop. It's so warm - so nice.'_

" GAH! I have to tell _somebody_!" She cried aloud, throwing her fists down on the mattress with a gentle thump.

That was easier said than done, given everyone still thought Neji was either dead, or a traitor. She would have to tell the whole story to Hinata and the others tomorrow, in a way that wouldn't arouse the guards' suspicions. The girl began to plan out how she would explain it to them.

Something was weighing heavily on her mind, though. Just before leaving her room, Neji had confessed his feelings to her, and she couldn't say anything back. She wanted to say she loved him too, but part of her mind was telling her she still shouldn't trust him.

_**He is a **_**man**_** after all, you know they'll say anything to get to you!**_

_'I just know he's sincere, I could tell by the way he said it!'_

_**Maybe he's just a good actor...**_

_'Then why would he say he was going to help me escape?'_

_**That could just be a ploy to get you to trust him, so he can get into your pants!**_

_'That's not true!__(Plus, he kinda already did) Besides, if he came here to free Hinata, why not me too?'_

_**What if he made that up?**_

_'If he did, then WHY would they make him into a servant??'_

_**They never did like each other...**_

Neither part of her brain had anything else to say on the subject. She was sure he meant it though, he had to.

Straightening her dress a little, Tenten stood and began to pace around the room. She had too many things on her mind. As she walked, her foot hit something small, that made a tinkling sound as it was sent flying across the floor. Reaching down, her fingers found the silver and pink key to her room. That was odd, she didn't remember keeping one in her room. Without thinking, she used it to open the little drawer that contained stationary materials. She was running fairly low on paper. Suddenly an idea struck her. Taking out a few pieces, she began to repeat Neji's story onto the white sheets, along with instructions to pass it on to the next girl.

Just as she finished writing, there was a knock at the door, and an irritated voice telling her it was time to go out for her hour with the four other slaves. Obidiently, the girl got to her feet, tucking the papers safely into her dress's pocket. The man knocked on Hinata's door. There was a small squeak, then the sound of footsteps. The door slowly creaked open, and the indigo haired girl creeped out shyly, taking her place next to Tenten. The brunette nudged her shoulder, giving her a smile and a wink. Hinata smiled back, something good must have happened.

Once outside, it seemed as though everyone had something important to share. Sakura gushed about how she could decide if the master or his visiting brother was better looking. Ino slipped everyone some samples out of a food basket her admirer had secretly sent her. Hinata told a story in which both Naruto and Kiba had come to her room at nearly the same time, seen each other, then started fighting again. Temari made a loud fuss over catching a toad, then opened her hands slightly to show them a shining engagement ring. Tenten smiled, laughed, and 'aww'd with the other girls. It felt so good to be like a normal teenager, she wanted to feel this all the time.

She had made up her mind, she was going to do everything she could to get free, even if that meant ignoring the nagging feeling in her mind and trusting Neji.

The slave had chosen to sit next to Hinata that day. Tapping the shy girl lightly on the shoulder, Tenten discreetly slid the note from her pocket, and under the hand Hinata was leaning on the ground. She looked confused, but the brunette gave her a look that clearly said it would all be explained later.

Soon they were all caught up in jokes, stories, hair styling, and various beauty tips (mostly from Ino and Sakura). They all felt as though they hadn't a care in the world. That feeling seemed to keep coming back whenever they were together.

At that time she didn't realize that she should have paid more attention and asked questions of Sakura's story.

After the shortest hour in recorded history, the five grudgingly went back inside, a couple still snickering. Tenten flopped onto her bed, feeling as though she weighed nothing at all. She hoped Hinata would understand the story, and trust Neji again.

The girl started to shiver. No wonder, her clothes were soaked for sitting in the snow. Funny, she hadn't even noticed the cold at the time. Still, she would have to take off the dress before she caught a cold. She removed her clothing, but didn't know what else to put on. She would freeze if she just stayed here in her underclothes. Opening her little cupboard, she pulled out the white kimono and threw it on. Hopefully no one would notice. (She missed Neji's shirt.)

With nothing left to do, Tenten sat on the floor, searching for some form of entertainment. A quick look around her room told her there wasn't much in here to amuse herself with. Thinking hard, she tried to recall some place she could go in the manor. She soon gave up, leaning her weight against the wall and sighing dramatically.

"What am I going to do?" She asked the air.

Even if she trusted Neji now, how could she see him? After what had happened, Sasuke would be sure to assign him to jobs that would never bring him close to her.

Things were looking pretty bleak right now. The girl heard someone in the hallway. Perhaps Hinata was passing on the note. That would be nice. She needed to escape all her thoughts. The only place she could do that was in sleep. She wasn't even tired, but staggered over to her bed anyway, forcing herself to sleep.

* * *

The brunette guessed it was nearly an hour later when she was awoken by the sound of paper under her door and high pitched swearing. Must have been Ino. Rolling onto her other side, she saw, not only her note, but four other, slightly smaller ones. Tenten jumped for them, opening the first one she could find. Written on pink paper, she could guess who it was from.

_Tenten,_

_Wow! That really sucks for poor Neji and Hinata! I guess having a rich family isn't all that great after all... Sasuke's always saying how much he hates his Dad and his brother. Maybe it's better to be poor – or something! Who knows?_

_And by the way, niiiiiice job snagging Neji! He's freaking hot! Oh – don't tell Sasuke I said that!_

_Sakura_

The next she opened was a bit scary, it was written in almost cruelly dark strokes, and there were even holes in the page from pressing too hard.

_**Ten,**_

_**OOOOH! I'M GONNA KILL THAT FUCKING FAMILY. That was SO unfair what they did. I can't STAND people like that!! I hope Neji and you get them back once you're freed!**_

_By the way, I'm leaving with Shika soon. I'll miss you! Good luck!_

_**TEMARI OF THE DESERT AND DON'T YOU FORGET IT**_

The third was rather off-topic, obviously from Ino.

_Woah, that's like... so bad. Seriously, those people are sooo mean! _

_Anyway, I'm gonna be gone soon. Master doesn't know it but the Nara kid and Temari are taking me with them! I'm gonna be free – and I get to meet whoever this Chouji is. I've got a perfect image of what he must look like in my head. Ooh! I can't wait!_

_Oh yeah, and I read Hinata's letter. Looks like she's got some pretty big problems going on right now! Hahaha!_

_Love INO!_

Worried, Tenten flipped open the final note.

_Dear Tenten,_

_Thank you for the note. After reading it, I remembered hearing about the branch family not knowing all those years ago. I understand now, and I'm very happy for you. Despite your doubts, I think you really do love him. I'm glad that someone truly loves him. The others who claimed they did didn't understand him enough for it to be true._

_If you don't mind me saying, I've got a little love problem myself. I just... can't decide. Both Kiba and Naruto have been so nice to me. Naruto may be a bit more... obnoxious...? But they're both so kind and caring. I think I love the one of them just as much as the other, but I can't choose both, can I? If you can't help me, I'll understand. It is rather difficult..._

_Sincerely,_

_Hinata_

That was a hard one. The brunette would have to ponder that one for a while. She knew how much each boy cared for her by the way they were constantly fighting over her. Maybe it could be possible for her friend to choose them both, but they probably wouldn't like that much.

Tenten gathered all the notes in her hands, sitting back against the wall. They were lucky. All the guys they liked were rich and had the power to free them. Now that Neji was a servant, she didn't know how she could get away. Resting her head against the wall, she thought hard.

For the third time that day, someone was knocking on her door. Her heart leapt – maybe it was Neji! She jumped up, but the door was open before she could reach it. There she saw, not Neji, but a tall black-haired man looking down at her. It was easy to tell that this man could break her in half if he wanted to. Crimson eyes looked over her as she felt herself shrink back a fraction. His face was expressionless as he stepped into her room. The girl suddenly saw the rope in his hands. She dropped the notes.

_'Oh no.'_

"You're coming with me." The frightening man stated bluntly, but with a sort of elegance she couldn't place. The brunette could do nothing but stare. "I don't generally like to repeat myself, girl. I'm also not famous for my patience, so it would be best for you if you would just hold out your hands."

Tenten wasn't sure what to do, but she couldn't go with him. Holding her arms protectively against her chest, she backed slowly away, until she felt her back hit the wall. The man showed no signs of annoyance, or anything else for that matter. He simply walked right in front of her, blocking any means of escape. Her eyes windened, and she started to tremble. Who was this guy, who could make the domineering Tenten quiver in fear?

"That was your first wrong move." He said tonelessly. Still his face did not give any indication of how he felt. One hand shot out, grabbing her wrist in a bone crushing grip, forcing it off her chest and into one loop of the rope. With her free right hand she pushed against him, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. For the first time the man showed a sign of emotion as his blood-coloured eyes narrowed slightly. With one hand he grasped her neck, slamming her against the wall that she had come slightly away from.

"That was your second. As much as I like my prey to be feisty, know that if you try that too much, I _will _kill you." She was feeling herself start to go limp. He released her, letting her fall the few inches to the ground. As she gasped for air, he captured her other arm, securing her with the rope.

Tenten didn't have the strength to fight him after being strangled, so she stumbled out her room at the rough pull of the rope. The door was left open for all the world to see inside her room. Her breathing was still fairly shallow as he led her, oddly enough, down the stairs, instead of to the guest rooms.

"Itachi." The man spoke again.

"Wh...what...?" She mumbled stupidly. She was only starting to get the oxygen back into her brain.

"Remember that name, because you'll be screaming it before too much longer." This guy meant business, and she knew it.

They were approaching the servant chambers. There was only one thing left that she could do.

"Neji!" She cried desperately, though it was unlikely he would hear. "Save me!" Nothing happened. Really, she hadn't expected it would, but she needed to try. A single tear trailed down her cheek as the man named Itachi, pulled the rope more forcefully.

They passed the servants' quarters, and were now walking down more steps to the basement. The armoury was in sight. The brunettte wanted to run away to that sanctuary, but had no such luck. She began to tug back on the rope, in a pointless attempt at freedom. The man sighed heavily. He had almost lost his tolerance for this woman.

CRACK. The sound echoed off empty walls. Tenten didn't even register what was happening until her eyes stung with tears, and she felt the red hot pain of being slapped across the face. He turned, the angered expression gone.

He dragged her deeper into the basement. She had never been here before. The slave took in her surroundings, cold stone walls and dim lanterns in what seemed like a never-ending hallway. Could it be...? Did this place have a dungeon? It wouldn't surprise her. She wanted to cry, but that would be so cowardly it hurt. She wanted to thrash and fight him, but he was too strong for her. Neither would do her any good. It seemed there was nothing she could do.

"We're here, girl."

Tenten opened her eyes, which she hadn't even realized she'd closed. The hallway had opened into a dark room, all stone walls and floors.

The carefree time she'd spent with the other slaves was years ago, as he untied the ropes around her hands. Once they were off, the girl tried once more to get away. She ran for all she was worth, pumping chakra into her feet to make her go faster. It seemed as though she would get away, but Itachi was just toying with her. In a blur he was gone, reappearing just in front of her. He grabbed both of her shoulders, throwing her into a wall. Tenten felt herself fly, then blinding pain in her back. She felt as though she would black out from the pain, but she couldn't let go now and let him have his way with her. There just _had _to be a way to escape.

It looked pretty hopeless then, as she saw his slightly blurred figure walking slowly towards her. She couldn't stand. She couldn't run.

* * *

Neji sighed for what felt like the hundredth time since he had gotten here. Everything around here was so strange; foreign, uncomfortable.

_'So... small...'_

He was used to lush compounds and apartments, with much more room than the amount of people living within them could think to do with. His footsteps echoing off of the walls due to the open space. A comfortable bed that always felt oddly empty with just one person. Excess amounts of food and comforts, so much so that they would be sometimes given to those less fortunate – not out of compassion, just as a place to leave them. A staff just to welcome him home each day. He had grown up with several servants offering to make his tea each day, which he would politely refuse, saying that he could do it himself. Though, it was more often dozens of female servants offering to help him get dressed. He didn't like that part, seeing as it commonly ended in one or two restraining orders.

Still, he'd take the squealing fangirls stepping all over each other just to catch a glimpse of him over this. A cold, stone room. Large as it was, there wasn't much room for anything. He guessed seventy or eighty bunk beds were lined up against the walls, only leaving enough room in between to squeeze in a small cabinet. These cabinets held all of their materials for doing their jobs and nothing more. The mattresses were stiff and harsh, crinkling like paper whenever he moved. He doubted he'd be sleeping much here. Everything was a dull slate grey, the walls, the floors, the bedding. They only exception was his clothes, though they too were quite colourless.

With nothing to distract his mind, the Hyuuga found his thoughts wandering of the chestnut-haired slave again.

_'God, how did I fall for someone like her? She's nothing like I'd imagined to be my type, and she's certainly nothing like those "girlfriends" uncle set up for me... but maybe that's why. She's so different... so... alive...'_

It had only been a few hours, but already he missed her. He missed her so much it hurt. His arms felt so empty, and his chest so cold without her warm body pressed to his. Her lips... her hands... her...

Neji pressed the heels of his palms against his eyes, attempting to clear his head of such thoughts. With a grunt, he eased himself slowly onto the torturous bed, shifting in a vain struggle to get comfortable.

"_Neji! Save me!"_

The muffled cry nearly made him jump right out of his skin. Did he hear that right? Oh god, was Tenten okay? Sitting rigidly up, he looked around for another person to assure him that he wasn't just going insane.

"Did you hear that?" He questioned a middle-aged female servant nervously.

"Yes, that was probably one of those poor slave girls. Master's brother has a way of making them like that when he comes here. How sad for that girl."

"WHAT!?" Neji yelled, jumping up, tearing and out of the room. He didn't care how strong this guy was, if he hurt Tenten, he was going to die. Without thinking he threw open the door to the stairs, practically jumping down them. The man made a sharp turn, in the direction of the armoury. Once inside, he picked up the longest, sharpest, most dangerous-looking sword he could find within a minute.

The Hyuuga didn't know where to go next. There were many doors and hallways, and he wasn't even sure they had come down here.

_Byakugan!_

His bloodline limit activated, it didn't take him long to detect the girls chakra signal. He could see the outline of her body against a wall, looking helpless. Another figure was approaching her. Neji felt the anger rising fast within him. Suddenly there was another chakra signal approaching him. What? How could have not detected it until now?

"What are you doing with one of my swords?" it was the younger of the Uchiha brothers.

" I don't have time for this. Just get out of my way before I cut you down too. My business isn't with you today."

"You're lucky no guards caught you. I doubt you'd be able to pull this stunt twice"

"Just get out of my way..." Neji growled, " I have to save her." Sasuke looked like he was about to laugh.

"Oh, how sweet," He mocked, "A pitiful servant in love with a slave."

The Hyuuga was about an inch away from punching the younger man in the face, when Sasuke did something completely unexpected. He stepped out of the way, allowing Neji to run ahead.

"You had to have a reason for that." He said, suspicious.

"Just go, I don't care either way. You pose no danger to me. It's not like you can escape from there, anyway." The white-eyed man stood there for a moment, waiting for the other to do attack him or something. When nothing happened, he took the oppourtunity, and raced down the stone hall as fast as he could.

_Go ahead and try to save her, Hyuuga. _Sasuke smirked to himself. _You don't have a chance of beating Itachi. If you die, then I won't have to deal with you anymore, and if somehow you manage to kill my brother, then all the better. Whatever happens, I win.

* * *

_

Itachi crouched down beside the slave, kissing hungrily along her jawline. The murderous feeling this man was giving off kept her frozen in place. Her thoughts couldn't seem to sort themselves out. She was too confused; too scared. Tenten could only sit there, a dazed expression on her face, and the occasional shudder of disgust as the black haired man traced the shell of her ear with his tongue. One thought managed to force it's way out of the chaos, and shine clear in her mind.

_'Damn all these Uchihas! Damn them all to Hell!'_

Her shoulders felt oddly cold. Suddenly she realized her kimono was being peeled off of her form by the bastard. This seemed to awaken her thoughts, and her instincts. He didn't appear to notice her lift her hand. She waited a breathless moment until his guard was really down, then grabbed his shirt, roughly bashing her forehead against his. Her poor skull throbbed in agony, but it made him stumble back a little.

"Hmm," Itachi sounded more amused than anything, "It seems I have underestimated you. Don't be fooled, though, because it won't be enough."

Before she could process what he said or even start running, the man had her again by her white dress. He harshly swung the arm holding her, crushing her into the stone wall, and ripping her dress in the process. Tenten whimpered, her knees giving out. She had not slid three inches before Itachi caught her again. He grasped a piece of shredded fabric, tearing it the rest of the way, and throwing it carelessly into a corner. She flushed darkly and looked away, as she knew he could see the marks of possession Neji had left on her the previous night.

"_Interesting..._" He chuckled.

Using his body to hold her against the wall, the Uchiha pulled of his black cloak, followed by his shirt. Just before removing his weapons holster, he took out a kunai, reaching up and effortlessly slicing through her bra. This garment was disposed of too, leaving her exposed but for her panties, and him in his loose black pants.

He grabbed her breasts roughly, kneading them, testing their weight in his hands. At the first touch she cried out. His hands were like ice! Still, he relentlessly felt them. Tenten thrashed and wriggled, each attempted unsuccessful. She wanted to make him incapable of ever doing this to a girl again, but he had foreseen that and trapped her legs between his, occasionally grinding against her. Long fingers slid over her stomach and hips, chilling her to the bone, then lower. One hand kept her arms from moving, the other moved two fingers teasingly along the edge of her panties. She kept on fighting, though basically immobilzed. He frowned.

"Look at me." He commanded in his deep voice. The brunette shut her eyes tightly.

With the her last amount of strength, she forced out, "No." It was weak and pitiful, but she was still refusing him.

"I said _**look at me**_." The words were repeated louder and more harsh. One hand left her underwear, grabbing her chin and forcing her to meet his eyes. They were different from before - still the same blood red colour, but much more frightening. The world around them was spinning. Everything was dark and out of focus. All she could concentrate on was his face; his eyes.

Distantly, Tenten felt her arms being freed. They fell limply to her sides. His now unoccupied hand grabbed his pants and pulled them off. The only rationality she could manage was to realize that there was no way out. Somehow, the word found it's way to her lips.

"Neji..." Tenten whimpered as she vaguely felt her panties removed, and her body sliding to the floor.

* * *

He was running faster than he had ever before. He was almost there. He reached for the door, slamming it open.

"TENTEN!"

* * *

Uh-oh! This can't be good! What will become of poor Tenten? Whoooo knows! Will there be a badly written and long drawn out fight scene that ends very anticlamatically? Probably!

Once again, thank you everyone for your beautiful Christmas reviews. I liked getting them just as much as my DDR pad, or my webcam, or my external speakers or my OKAY Pyjamas. I don't have much to say here but I look forward to poll results. By the way, those who didn't review chapter 7 are not allowed to take part in it.

The invisible force pulling your mouse has returned, only stronger. Do what it tells you, and leave a review, telling me what you like and don't like so far. Maybe give me come advice with writing lemons XD.

Well, my friends, I am sad to say that the next update won't be for a while. Not like... five months or something... but probably a good few weeks. I have a lot going on at the moment, and I can never find the time to write what with exams coming up, and the fact that I have a job now. Minimum wage FOR THE WIN.

I'm done now. Think of me, and REVIEW.

-Cwin


	9. For You

Hey hey, you you- it's chapter nine! The chapter which is fun and predictable! I hope you like confusing fight scenes and extreme mind fucking. MIND. Be mature... (Yeah, I know the irony that I'M saying that)

Sorry this chapter took so excruciatingly long, friends. I thought I could finish writing during exam week since I only had two exams. Unfortunately, Mother made me clean my room – which doesn't sound so bad... unless you've ever been in my room... Anyway, it's all neat and tidy now, and I'm seeing a sight I haven't seen in a great many years – the floor. After that I got lazy again, until my parents cut me off from the internet and I managed to get some writing done. Obviously my internet is back now. and the chapter's done - so everyone's happy!

I got so many long reviews! I enjoyed your various murders/maimings/stabbings/cursings/tea parties (Okay, I lied about the last one) of Itachi. It was nice to see the crazy side of some of my reviewers, reading them made me smile a lot. So here's to you: **Torame, Dark Flame Pheonix, Merciless Ruby (Oh dear, please don't hurt your poor computer! Hurt people you don't like instead:D), Kunoichi Hyuuga Tenten, 10Join-Fei (I'm glad you liked your description, and don't worry, I also have a sick sense of entertainment – that's why I wrote it! Thanks for the bananahammock design, I think I'm liking where this is going -evil giggle-), Shika.Tema.rox.like.hell, Mysterious Smiles, tenjichan (It's okay! It doesn't matter when you leave your review! But I'm happy you thought enough about me to apologize and leave TWO reviews. Also, no the story isn't over just yet, but it might be over sooner than some of you expected!), kitsune-grl (You're entitled to your own opinion. Personally, I like Sakura – but only after the time skip. I don't like Ino, though... Still, it's cool to hear that my writing actually got an emotional reaction!), sexyinumama, Serenity Weapons, Alquawende, iyoku-ishi (You're weak for SasuSaku too, huh?), Bitto (Who apparently still loves it), Unices (Just write a rough description into a review – like "purple polka dots with florecent green lace" or something), lehcar-light (Whootwhoot for threesome! You get a gold star!), XxSorenxX, NaraTemari, Haruka Kokoro (I know what you mean! I've read a good number of slave stories in my time, and I got tired of the slave-falls-in-love-with-master-hurray-and-good thing. Thanks!), AllsFair-N-Love-War (-beams- I'll be watching for your story!), La princesa zorro, Bitterlife (-offers pillow- Sorry if you didn't live to pass your finals. I'll take all the blame, though. Feel free to tell your teachers that some jerk fanfiction-writing loser made you loose your focus with her evil stories.), Ceridwen Inari (Deux! Pardon my french, but – Merci des revues! Sasuke est compatissant! Pardonnez-moi! Je suis désolé pour l'addition en retard! Je suis un échec! And an extra sorry to any **_**real**_** French-speakers who might read this), Hexxgirl (Yay!), AND animeirl1o1 (Cry more!)**

Holy crap that never ended! You people just leave such great questions and comments that I feel I need to respond to them all! Before this gets any longer than it need to be, lemme just record the standings on the Hinatax??? poll: NaruHina – 1 KibaHina- 4 NaruHinaKiba- 4. WELL. We appear to have a tie. Don't worry, you have two more chapters until the poll closes. Also, since it wasn't exactly enthusiastically received by those given the option – the poll is now open to anyone that wants to review, okay? Clear?

Moving on, I am really done now. Enjoy chapter nine and its craptastic fight.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Wide white eyes took in the scene before him in less than a second, but to Neji it seemed to take an age.

The first thing he saw was Tenten, the woman he loved, pressed against the wall. Completely naked, unless you counted the plain panties pulled halfway down her thighs. One could easily see the red marks on her neck, shoulders and chest. Her dark hair cascaded down her shoulders, almost managing to cover her bare breasts. The girl had a dazed expression on her paled face, as though she had no clue what was happening to her. She just looked straight ahead unblinkingly, not making any move to hide herself or run away.

The next was the man above her. Dusky black hair, almost the same length as the girl below him, held neatly back in a low ponytail. Scarlet eyes never broke contact with chocolate brown, though they were clouded and unfocused. A small smirk was playing on his lips. He knelt over her weak legs, preventing her from . With one hand he held her shoulder against the wall, the other reaching for his one remaining article of clothing – silken black boxers.

Neji saw red. All other purposes in life were forgotten, the only remaining need was to kill this man. With uncontrolled speed and strength, he rushed at Itachi, heavily swinging his sword around. The Uchiha dodged it easily, leaping back a few feet. Tenten seemed to break out of her trance, but still looked like she wasn't completely aware of her surroundings. She slumped a little closer to the ground.

" You finally decided to join us, Hyuuga-reject. I've been sensing your chakra for quite sometime, what took you so long?" Itachi said calmly. Neji felt his blood boil. The older man was already back by Tenten's side pulling her to her feet by the hair, her limbs hanging limp as a rag doll. Neji would never outwardly admit to being afraid of anything, but seeing her there, naked and appearing half-dead scared him beyond belief. The Hyuuga temporarily deactivated his Byakugan, so he could see the scene more realistically.

"Let her go." Neji warned, sword gleaming threateningly in the dim light.

A wide smirk crossed Itachi's face.

"Are you so sure you want to do that?" He lifted the girl higher, so his arm rested loosely around her neck and shoulders. Somehow he managed to produce a kunai in his unoccupied hand, holding against her throat. The feeling of cold, razor sharp metal against her neck awoke her completely. She began to thrash and pull away.

"Get your disgusting hands off of me!" She yelled. Itachi growled, tightening his grip on her neck, slowly blocking her airway. Tenten made a muffled choking sound.

"Don't make the mistake of thinking that it will matter to me even the slightest bit if I end your life. I could get a miserable little whore like you anywhere I want." To emphasize his point, he sliced her neck just a small amount where it wouldn't be vital. Still, it hurt like hell. The slave gasped in pain, tears threatening to form in her eyes.

Neji didn't know what to do. That bastard had just called Tenten a whore! If he came any closer, though, Itachi would kill her. He bit the inside of his lip, and held the sword more firmly. The Uchiha switched the kunai into his other hand, giving himself a free arm. Still mildly strangling her, the man calmly walked to the other side of the room. Neji didn't dare take his eyes off him as he grabbed his pants from the floor, putting them back on. He did the entire thing with the most aggravating look on his face. As though he was just getting dressed on a normal day, and there wasn't a naked woman under his arm and another man intending to murder him. Now that he had some clothes on, Itachi took the kunai back in his left hand.

Just to make Neji angrier, Itachi dropped his hand from the girl's neck still keeping the blade against her throat. One leg twisted between hers, so that any attempt to run away would simply result in her falling to the ground, and getting killed anyway. Using his right hand, the Uchiha felt the soft skin of her neck, roaming over her shoulders, arms, and stomach. He stroked her thighs teasingly, but never went further inwards. The entire time he kissed the side of her neck that didn't have a deadly weapon held to it in mock affection. Tenten shuddered in disgust at the feeling of his hot breath on her cheek, but was not foolish enough to try getting away. If only she could get a good place to attack. The black-haired man's fingers slid higher, over her breasts. He ran his hand over them, squeezing occasionally, delighting in the small gasp of pain he received each time.

That was far to much for the Hyuuga. Without thinking he started to charge, sword held high. Itachi's hand left her breasts, instead holding her around the waist.

"STOP" Tenten screamed, effectively halting him. She whimpered as the kunai had begun to dig into her throat. " I don't care what happens to me, but once I'm dead, he'll come after you. I can't let you die! " The words poured out of her mouth before she could think of what she was saying.

"But don't you see what he's doing to you?" Neji protested. Her emotions broke down around her seeing the distressed look on his face. Tears streaked down her face one by one without her control.

"Yes, yes I do!" She cried desperately, "Neji, please! You have to understand! We'll both be killed if you attack him now! This is what my life has been for the past seven years! As much as I hate it, and as much as I thought-" Her words were temporarily silenced as she choked on a sob. She cleared her throat, taking in a shaky breath, "and as much as I thought it would be over, it looks like I'll have to live through it, at least one more time."

" You mean your just going to let him do what he wants to you?" This didn't make any sense, why wasn't she holding this guy's disembodied head right now? It was so unlike her just to give in.

"Please don't make this any harder than it needs to be!" She wailed, tears flowing faster than ever "I'll do it, but only this time. He's too strong, Neji! I'm doing it for both of us. I'm doing it... because... because..."

The white-eyed man looked at her quizzically. Tenten bowed her head for a second, then came back up with a look of determination on her face. She opened her mouth, shouting so loud that it could be heard echoing down the halls.

"I'm doing it because I love you!"

Neji's eyes opened wider than he could imagine. He stumbled back slightly, no longer having the strength to argue. Finally, Itachi spoke again.

"That sounds like a 'yes' to me. Now we shall have our fun, girl, and you, Hyuuga-reject, can watch." Neji grit his teeth. He didn't want to watch, but he couldn't turn away from her, not while this insane bastard had her. "And just in case..." Itachi flicked his hand, another kunai twirled around his finger. This one he aimed above her heart. Both were poised to kill her if anyone made a wrong move.

His body once again pressed hers to the wall. Tenten didn't look at him, her eyes were fixed upon the one she loved, giving him a sad smile. He tried to return it, but he could not. The black-haired man once again removed his pants. Every move he made was slow and calculated, to see if he could make the Hyuuga crack. He noticed the girl was not looking at him. He frowned, grabbing her chin so she would face him, he pressed his lips against hers with bruising intensity. Itachi forced his tongue into the brunette's mouth. She did not respond to the kiss, but neither did she fight him.

The Uchiha's hand went to her legs, shredding the annoying undergarments. He then retreated back to his own hips, pulling off his boxers. He broke the kiss, and positioned himself to enter.

Several things happened within that second: Neji cried out her name, Itachi looked over at him, Tenten grabbed Itachi's wrist, forcing the dangerous blades away from her, then immediately connected her knee with his groin. This caught him completely off-guard. He dropped the kunai, hands automatically going to cover himself. One managed to slice her bare hip a little. The slave winced, but all the same went to run. Suddenly one of his hands shot out. Using a trick she remembered all of a sudden, she jumped under his arm, tucking her legs in so he wouldn't catch a flying ankle. Unfortunately, she couldn't recall how to land after using this, she hit the ground hard, doing some summersaults before landing flat on her face. The brunette groaned, but managed to stand again.

While Itachi was still stumbling around on the ground, trying to regain his bearings, Neji removed his own shirt, tossing it to the brown-eyed girl. She gratefully covered herself with it, though the bottom just _barely_ concealed the essentials. They didn't have long before the Uchiha was up.

_Damn, I've never been kicked there before! That hurts more than most wounds I've gotten! _Itachi thought angrily, _That damn bitch is going down!_

"Go, Tenten, go!" Neji called, waving his arm in the direction of the entrance. She shook her head angrily.

"No! I won't leave you!" Tenten yelled firmly. Itachi wasn't making any move to attack, so the boy turned and grasped the slave by her shoulders. The look in his eyes and his fingertips pressing against her shoulder blades reminded her of their first night together, when they both had shouted so much at each other. That was so long ago now, she couldn't imagine how she ever hated him. Staring directly into her eyes, he did not scream or rant, but said harshly,

"Don't be stupid. You can't always fight every battle yourself. I know this is hard for you, but you have to let go of your pride just this once. What happens if he manages to capture you again? I can't live with the thought of him threatening you like that any more. Let me fight this one for you. I'll fight - because _I _love _you._"

Something about his words and the way he looked at her gave Tenten confidence in him. She smiled, but one last tear managed to find it's way out of her eye.

"Be warned though, if you die, I'll kill you." She joked. With that, she turned on her heel and ran out of the room. Out in the hallway, Sasuke saw the brown-haired girl rushing past wearing only a servant's shirt. He chuckled to himself.

"This is starting to get good"

* * *

During the time the two were arguing, Itachi managed to get his clothes back on. Both men stood in battle stance, daring each other to attack first. 

_Byakugan!_

_Mangekyou Sharingan!_

Neji saw the chakra flowing throw the other man's body. He began to strategize. After a while, he made the first move, focusing on the chakra points in his left shoulder. He prepared his gentle fist technique, rushing at Itachi, attempting a jab his arm and heart. But the Uchiha was too fast for him, grabbing his wrist, and twisting it around.

SNAP

The sickening sound and feeling of bones cracking inside his arm. Neji bit down hard on the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out, his eyes squeezed shut. Itachi let him go, then tried his own attack, a simple one, with a kunai, but deadly to an untrained person. The white-eyed boy dodged, jumping to a safe distance. He let his breath steady a little before attacking again.

Using his taijutsu speed, Neji ran at the black-haired man, delivering two swift kicks. However, once again, Itachi caught him, this time by the ankle. He didn't break it, but twisted the boy around and throwing him across the room. Before he knew what was happening, the Hyuuga felt his skull crashing into a wall. A hole broke through, dust and debris falling heavily on his body. He felt the cuts and bruises on his body, but the true pain lay in his anger and hurt pride.

In the blink of an eye he was up on his feet again, though his left arm dangled limply at his side.

He couldn't even tell Itachi had moved before he felt a fist connect with his chest. Reacting quickly, Neji managed to punch the older man in the jaw, forcing his head to snap back. The Hyuuga spun, him in the side with such force that he made a crater in the stone floor.

Then he saw something out of the corner of his eye, a glint, brief as the candle light bounced off it, but still there. His sword! It had somehow gotten out of his hands while trying to protect Tenten. Neji leaped for it, grabbing it in his good hand. He balanced without hands, ready to stand.

In a second Itachi was on top of him, holding a kunai knife in one hand, and Neji's good arm with the other. The Byakugan user brought his foot up, kicking the taller man in the stomach. He flew off, landing on his feet with grace. The younger jumped to his feet instantly.

The two rushed at each other. Itachi held a new weapon, a slightly smaller sword, that curved more near the end. Their weapons clashed, the metallic sound echoing off the walls, amplifying and repeating. Each pushed back with equal force. A smirk appeared on Itachi's features.

"Why do you protect her?" He questioned.

"Because I love her. I can't let her get hurt, and I'll seek revenge on those who would hurt her." They jumped apart, only to once again cross blades. Careful footwork guided them in almost unnoticeable patterns around the stone room. Itachi got the upperhand, pushing harder and forcing Neji to arch backwards.

"But why? She's violent, bad-tempered, and unco-operative. She is the lowest social standard, not to mention her reactions are...less than ideal." He added, the feeling of her kneeing him still fresh.

"That's not what love is about!" Neji growled, managing to straighten up, and even push the other back a little. " And she only acted that way because she doesn't love you." The Uchiha scoffed.

"You don't know what love means, boy."

"And you do?"

The black-haired man didn't answer, but swung his blade around. Neji matched him, moving at the same pace to avoid injury. Then he saw it. Itachi had left his chest wide open to attack. The Hyuuga broke contact, aiming to slice right down the bastard's left shoulder. Unfortunately, his aim was somewhat poor without his left hand to steady the sword. He managed slice the skin of Itachi's left arm, causing him to hiss in pain, but did no fatal damage.

Neji flipped in the air, landing a good ten feet away from his opponent. He felt warm liquid trailing down his back. Damn. When had Itachi managed to cut him? The older man threw his sword to the ground, and began to perform handsigns.

The air around Neji seemed to distort, crawling around and fusing with another side to form a circular shape around him. What the...? The Hyuuga jabbed his elbow against it, unable to break through. His Byuakugan eyes could clearly see the blue glow. So... a chakra barrier, huh? How did this guy manage to maintain all of these chakra-depleting techniques at once?

Once again Itachi was directly in front of him. For the first time, Neji saw those eyes for real.

Blood soaked eyes, with midnight pupils spiraling around to form a pinwheel shape around the centre. The wheel began to spin rapidly.

All colour faded to black, while black lines became white. The world seemed to be spinning out of his control. What was going on?

_The dark stone room was gone. He was in an open space, with no walls or any landmarks to indicate his location. He seemed to be standing on nothing, yet he did not fall. He was still holding the sword, and his wounds continued to shoot pain through his nerves with every heartbeat. _

_A white flash passed into and out of his vision. Then another, and another. It was moving too fast to be able to tell what it was. It darted past him, grazing his cheek in a mocking way. His head was beginning to ache from watching this quick white thing. It flashed by one more time, stopping directly in front of him. Slowly, it melded together to form a figure..._

_Itachi._

_He looked straight into Neji's eyes, but didn't seem to notice him. That is, he made no move to attack, or to defend himself. He just stood there, the bastard, with a blank look on his face, staring unseeingly into the face of his opponent._

_Without missing a beat, the Hyuuga held his sword up and ran towards him. Still Itachi did not move, or even appear to recognize another presence. There was no way Neji would pass up an oppourtunity like this! He was a hand's breadth away from the older man now. His mind flashed with images of him dead on the floor. There was no stopping him now. He readied his sword..._

_...and stabbed Itachi clean through._

_The elder Uchiha's eyes opened wide. He coughed up blood dyed white onto the endless black ground as the other pulled the sword out of his body and stood back to see what he'd done. Then he did something unexpected. He looked directly into the younger man's eyes... and grinned. _

_Suddenly he was becoming distorted, changing shape yet again. The figure became smaller, slighter. His face slowly rounded, hair gaining a slight wave as sharp, malicious eyes softened. It was no longer Itachi standing before him..._

_It was Tenten._

_She held her arms over her stomach, looking up at him tearfully through half-lidded eyes. Blood flowed over her crossed arms, staining the unfamiliar clothes she wore. Neji could hear her harsh gasps of pain echoing all around him. He dropped his sword, rushing over to her and shaking his head violently._

" _No, no, no! I didn't! I didn't know!" He cried, grabbing the girl and holding her in his arms. He felt her life soaking his chest. He didn't kill her! He couldn't kill her!_

_Her eyes were beginning to unfocus, her breath coming in wheezing pants. He held her tighter, as if he could squeeze the life back into her. The tears escaped her eyes, leaving tracks down her face. She took a shallow, broken gasp, then fell limp in his arms. Neji's heart stopped from a moment, until he felt her, however weakly, breathing against his neck. The boy lowered her to the ground so that her head rested comfortably in his lap. He stared down at her, biting back his emotions, as fresh tears leaked from her nearly closed eyes. Slowly, she turned her head up to look at him, her gaze fearful and broken-hearted. A single word formed on Tenten's chapped lips._

"_Why?"_

_Neji's eyes widened. He let out a choked noise, that sounded a bit like a sob. "It was a mistake, Tenten! I- I killed Itachi, not you!" He willed that his words would make things right, but nothing happened._

_Tenderly, he wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, then wrapped an arm around her neck, lifting her into a half-sitting position. The Hyuuga embraced her with all his heart. He tilted her chin to look at him, and gently pressed his lips against hers. She frowned slightly, and lay back down. The girl looked almost amused as she whispered..._

"_I thought you said... you loved me..." Tenten let out a final sigh as her eyes closed._

_Neji gripped her shoulders, and let out a scream so heart-wrenching that it could bring even some of the most heartless men to their knees. __The stoic Hyuuga prodigy finally broke down, tears falling hard and fast onto her rapidly cooling body. He continued to scream, whatever he could think of: her name, asking her to come back, or just mindless cries of sorrow._

"_**You killed her... Killed her... Killed... her..." **__A disembodied voice chanted in his ear. Neji leaned down so that his head rested on the girl's still chest, and spoke back._

"_No... I couldn't have... I love her..." _

"_**If you loved her, you wouldn't have let her die."**_

"_That's not true!" he yelled back savagely, "I- I wish I had died, instead of her."_

"_**That can be arranged" **__the voice chuckled._

_Suddenly he was lifted from the ground, Tenten's body falling limply. He felt wood against his back. His arms flung out of either side of him. He realized he was against a cross. A hundred little glints appeared around him. Too late he realized what they were. Dozens of blades came flying at him, piercing his skin. Tenten's body appeared in front of his eyes just as he was stabbed. He released one last agonized scream, so loud and powerful that it could probably be heard all through the house. _

_He was dropped from the cross, were he sat hunched over her lifeless body, crying silently. _

All at once the girl he loved disappeared, and colour returned to the world. Neji was laying on the ground, clutching his head, a cold sweat coating his body. About twenty kunai stuck out of his body in various places. He opened his eyes, realizing the situation. Black ninja sandals came into his vision. He looked up into the face of Itachi.

"Did you enjoy your taste of my Sharingan?" He asked mockingly, as he dropped the chakra barrier " You should have heard yourself -" he imitated a young boy's voice "_Don't die Tenten! Don't die! I didn't kill you! I love you! _How Pathetic."

"Shut up." Neji panted, not looking up from the stone floor "I'll kill you."

"Oh yes, I can see that by the way you're writhing on the ground there." With that the Uchiha kicked him hard in the side, causing him to roll a few feet.

Slowly, Neji got back on his feet. His mind was still spinning from the frightening illusion he had seen. Itachi started muttering something to a technique, two fingers over his mouth.

_Dammit. _The Hyuuga _I can't get to him unless I can keep him from attacking me for a while..._

Before Itachi could complete the jutsu, Neji disappeared. The older man didn't seem fazed by this, but his eyes slid sideways to try and locate the Byakugan user.

In a second he reappeared behind him, ready to attack. He focused on the vital nerves in Itachi's shoulder. The black-haired man turned but was too late. Neji managed to jab him twice before flying back to avoid getting caught in his Sharingan again. The painful metallic sound of metal hitting stone rang through the room as Itachi dropped his blade. He looked down at the arm hanging by his side. He attempted to flex his fingers, but failed.

"Ahh, how intelligent," He remarked, " You immobilized my right arm so that I couldn't make certain hand signs, or use a weapon with my proper hand. They could be right about you being a genius..."

The white-eyed boy stood a fair distance away as the older sarcastically complimented him. Now he could attack more easily. He was loosing a lot of blood, though, and it was getting difficult to move. Gritting his teeth tightly, he pulled each blade from his flesh with a sickening wet sound. He threw kunai after bloody kunai across the room, eyes never leaving the Uchiha who was busily experimenting with how much he could move his arm. After he had removed every weapon from his body, Neji grabbed his sword from where it lay a few feet away from him. Once again he jumped for Itachi swinging his blade in a long arc.

The stabs of pain all over the Hyuuga's body were suddenly put out of his mind as an agonizing burn of pain shot through his brain and back to it's source. Taking a quick glance down, he saw Itachi kneeling under him, and a knife thrust deep into his right thigh, barely missing bones. He felt important nerves and veins splitting, vital muscle tearing. He did not cry out, but a heavy grunt of pain escaped his lips.

Without even realizing he had found and opening, Neji lifted his word and stabbed Itachi through the chest, and back out the other side. For a fleeting moment he though that he had finished the older man, until he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He suddenly felt himself begin pulled over by the weight of a large piece of stone skewered on his blade.

_Substitution? But how? I didn't even see it._ Neji thought as he threw the now useless tool away.

As if answering his unspoken question, a voice in his ear said, "Don't underestimate me, Hyuuga-reject."

Before he could be wounded again, Neji turned, preparing to use the gentle fist again. He was rapidly depleting his chakra. Luckily, so was Itachi. His balance was far off, though, so he missed by a considerable amount.

He wasn't quite sure what was happening as his own blood splashed in front of his face. Soon, however, it became apparent that Itachi had slashed him across the chest. Without thinking he looked into the Uchiha's face. Once again he could tell the Sharingan was taking over his mind, but in a different way. Colour was still intact, but his vision was clouding. It didn't take all of his genius to figure out that he was loosing consciousness. Neji swayed, then fell to the cold stone ground. He deactivated his Byakugan.

From what could still see through his blurry eyes, he registered that another figure had joined Itachi. This one was taller, imposing, and almost... animalistic.

"You gonna kill this one, Itachi?" A deeper voice asked.

"It was an interesting fight, but... no." Itachi replied, gripping his useless right shoulder. "He's not worth my time. Besides, with all those injuries, it's likely he'll die from blood loss, anyway."

"You sure? I sense someone coming. Let's get back to headquarters."

"Alright, but I still have to file a report to my idiot father." With that the two figures were gone.

Neji briefly wondered if he would die here, but quickly banished such cowardly thoughts from his head. He thought he heard a voice calling him, though it was probably his imagination. He didn't have time to find out because it was at that point he finally let himself fall into the blackness.

* * *

A monotone repetitive beeping filled his ears. A clean sensation strikingly contrasted to what he remembered just feeling. Slowly, Neji opened his eyes, seeing three people standing over him. One was Tsunade, who had her hand to his forehead, then Sakura, then finally Tenten, looking down on him with worried eyes. Both she and Sakura were blushing, though the busty woman was observing with unconcerned eyes. He wondered why this was, until he noticed that his pants had been removed. His eyes widened and embarrassment burned his cheeks slightly. 

At seeing his white eyes open, Tenten visibly brightened. She wanted to hug him but knew she couldn't.

"Ah, he finally came around." Tsunade said, turning to the pink-haired girl, "You see Sakura, I healed his wrist, stab wounds, and stopped the bleeding on the larger injuries. I woke him up purposely because the wound in his leg and chest need his body's full strength to heal. Do you understand?"

"I think so..." She answered, scribbling notes on a pad of paper. Neji was confused. How did he get here? And why was Sakura here, of all people?

"You okay Neji?" Tenten muttered softly, brushing a stray lock of hair from his face affectionately, "You've been out for three days. I thought you were dead when I found you. Don't scare me like that."

_What? Tenten's the one who found me? Oh no, she's the last person I want to see me like that! _He turned his head away from her, ashamed. Neji could feel Tsunade's cool chakra on his thigh, reattaching severed tissue.

"I'll be alright. How about you?" The girl smiled at him.

"I'm just fine! I had a lot of cuts and even more bruises, but they weren't anything serious." She took on a thoughtful expression for a moment, " I think the worst things I had were a slash on my hip and a bump on the forehead from when I headbutted him. They're all healed now, though I do get more headaches. That guy has one hard skull!" Tenten laughed aloud, and Neji had to smile a bit, despite the situation. She quickly fell silent as Tsunade began healing him in earnest.

It was a long and tedious process. Tsunade watched her hands, carefully locating and mending. Sakura watched her, eyes occasionally straying upwards, then quickly back down. However, Tenten's eyes never left his face, caring, understanding. He looked back at her, only thankful that she was unhurt.

It was an hour before the blonde medic moved up to his chest, giving him a chance to put his pants back on. Apparently the wound wasn't even deep enough to do anything but bleed a whole lot, though he did have a cracked rib or two. Sweat was beginning to collect on Tsunade's brow, and everyone felt cramped and stuffy from sitting in the same position so long. About another hour, Neji guessed, and the woman stood back, announcing that she was finished. They all breathed a sigh of relief, either out of concern, or just happiness that it was over.

"For your sake though, I suggest you stay here for a few more days. Your leg won't move very well at all for a while. Not to mention extensive use of the Byakugan will limit extensive movement, and you'll exert yourself far more easily." Breathing did seem to be more of a manual function now. Despite his nagging pride, Neji agreed.

"Um, do you think you could leave the two of us alone for a while?" Tenten inquired.

"Of course," Tsunade answered kindly, "But I'll be back soon. Come on, Sakura." She pulled the girl, still taking notes, away by the arm.

After they were gone and Tenten pulled the curtain around the bed, the two sat in silence for a while. Neither could quite pick the right words to say to each other. A certain awkward expectancy hung in the air.

"I'm sorry," The Hyuuga said suddenly, causing the girl to jump, "I should have gotten there sooner. I should have been strong enough to kill him before he could touch you."

"Don't be." She assured sharply. She'd had enough of him feeling sorry for her when he had clearly come out the worse. "There was nothing you could do about it. You didn't know, and you couldn't attack until I was away from him."

"You don't understand!" He half-yelled, grabbing her shoulders. Memories from the vision Itachi had forced on him flashed through his mind. He wanted to hold her tightly, making sure that what he had seen wasn't real, and she was actually alive and well before him. " I can't stand to think of another man touching you." He leaned in close to her ear, so that if there was anyone in the room, they wouldn't be able to hear, "We need to escape. As soon as I'm back to normal, we're getting out of here. Understand?"

Tenten nodded, looking around for any figures silhouetted against the pale curtain. A wicked grin crawled over her features.

"So long as we're alone..." the brunette didn't finish, though it was obvious what she meant. She turned to face him more, pulling her legs up onto the hospital bed. Her lithe body leaned over his as she straddled his hips. She leaned her chest lightly against his, so that the pressure was still there, but not enough to provoke his wound.

Hands carefully avoiding injuries, the girl pulled Neji in for a forceful kiss. She deepened it without hesitation, tasting and experimenting with how much power she had over him. Grinning, he pulled back from the kiss for a moment.

"Are you sure you're the same girl that called me a 'stuck-up pretty boy' two months ago?" He breathed, chuckling quietly.

"Shut up." She commanded, grinding her hips deeper into his, eliciting a soft groan, which effectively ended his laughter.

Again she kissed him, this time leaving no room for affection, only passion. She pushed his shoulders, forcing him to lie back. Neji rather liked this sexy, domineering side of her. He decided to give her a little payback, bucking his hips to meet hers. She let out a sound that was halfway between a moan and a gasp. Now that was something he could listen to all day. He tried it again, receiving the same surprised noise. Tenten's faced flushed heavily, and she glared at him through half-lidded chocolate eyes. She chose to give him another taste of his own medicine.

Suddenly a loud cough was heard over their uneven breathing. They froze, each turning their head to see Tsunade, lifting the curtain just enough to fit herself in.

"When I said 'soon' I meant _soon._" She said dryly, mostly to herself, "Honestly, I turn my back for two minutes and they're already dry humping each other. _Teenagers._"

Tenten immediately sprang off of him. Dusting imaginary dirt from her clothes.

"I-I-I'd better go. I-It'll be s-sunrise soon." The words came out all together as she bowed low, then scurried out, utterly mortified.

The blonde woman turned Neji, smiling in an understanding way. She give him instructions on how he could speed up his recovery and told him that he would be here for another five days. He listened with half an ear, wondering what would've happened if someone else had caught them together, and what was happening to the slave girl now.

"You really are lucky, you know." Tsunade told him. He nodded absently, thinking she meant that he was lucky to be alive after fighting Itachi,

"Sasuke's been running around shouting his head off at that girl after receiving a message from his father. Yet she's been sneaking down here every day, for hours on end just to see you and make sure you're okay. I don't even know when she sleeps, staying here all night."

"Really? Yeah, I guess I am lucky. I've been getting that a lot." He remembered his conversation with Naruto a few days ago. It seemed like months.

After checking that none of his wounds had opened again, Tsunade walked briskly through the curtains, leaving Neji alone to his thoughts

_' I really am lucky... what did I ever do to deserve __her__?"

* * *

_

BAM. There is your chapter nine! What DID you do, Neji, what did you do? I don't know - fought off the fucking scary S-class criminal, maybe? And I know fight scenes suck, but it was necessary... kinda... sorta... not really. I haven't really done proper research into exactly how each of them fight, so I'm sorry for that. I liked the total mind-rape part, though. Speaking of which, how was my first real angst? I know it was kinda cliché and Neji's reaction might have been a wee bit strong, but whatever, it's all to create mood.

Yeah, so Tenten is an evil little temptress. Itachi is a huge bitch, but you knew that already. And everyone loves each other! Snugglekiss! Everybody wins!

Dammit! I LOST. I'm so bad at The Game. I've been losing it for three years!

-sniffles- I'm a sickly girl today, so please review to help me feel a little better!

As an afterthought – does anyone here know who the Tartan Terrors are? If you don't, you should because they are awesome on a stick! And I is going to see them in two daaaayyyyys! -excitement-. Also, I'm going to be in Toronto during the last weekend of March Break (M-TAC! Wooo!), then the next weekend I'm gone again 'cause my best friend and I are going to visit a friend of ours in Ottawa/Quebec/French Hick Town. So... the next update might take longer than I thought, but hopefully not as long as this one!

Hugs and Kisses,

-Cwin


	10. A Quick Word

Hey guys,

This is Cwin coming to you live one last time. I just noticed recently hat it's been over a year since I last updated Chained Love (not counting that strange, possibly drug-induced "author's note"). After checking my dusty old e-mail, I noticed that people were sill adding my story onto their alert lists, so I thought I should say this.

In case it wasn't obvious already, I thought I'd make it clear that Chained Love is absolutely, once hundred percent, not continuing. I know that this isn't a very nice thing to do, especially since there were only two or three chapters left to go. Still, I have long since fallen out of love with both Naruto and het. Not only that, but my computer crashed over the summer with half the latest chapter completed. I couldn't recreate that even if I wanted to.

I won't even be using this account anymore. This is just an archive of my old stories, some of which I deleted a while ago out of sheer embarrassment. My new account is in my profile, though there isn't anything on it yet.

Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up by posting this. Anyone is welcome to continue it if they'd like, just send me a message. If you need ideas, I can give you some of where I was planning to go with the story, or you can take it in your own direction.

I love each and everyone of you who reviewed, favourited, or alerted, or even read my work. Even if no one cares anymore, it was only fair to you guys for me to tell you.

Love and hugs forever,

Cwin.


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